By: Tara Shewchuk, Brandon
Okray, Robert Mahoney, and
William Frankian
Advised By: Professor Robert Hersh
and Professor Suzanne LePage
Abstract
Food Hub organizations have great potential to increase sales for local farmers, increase
food access in underserved areas, and improve the sustainability of the food system. Our team
researched food hubs, food access issues, and the current food system to gain insight into the
viability of a food hub performing these functions in Worcester. In order to help answer these
questions our team carefully studied the relationships food hubs have within a food system. Our
team generated a list of key questions that need to be addressed when considering starting a food
hub.
2
Acknowledgements
Thank you to our advisor Professor Robert Hersh for advising us
throughout the duration of the project and guiding our efforts. His ideas,
feedback, and interest in the project helped us to maintain motivation
throughout the year and kept us going with our research and writing. His
constructive criticism and feedback on our numerous drafts helped us
identify those tough nuts to crack and made this project a truly positive
experience.
Thank you to our co-advisor, Professor Suzanne LePage, for assisting
with the editing and feedback on the report and offering invaluable
advice and guidance. Her dedication to our team and project helped us
to maintain momentum throughout the year, and her comments always
helped us to improve our research and writing.
Thank you to our project sponsor, Andy Pressman at NCAT for providing
information, guidance, and inspiration throughout the project. His insight
gave us a firsthand look into the farming community, without which our
project would not have been possible. His participation in phone interviews
and conferences to provide knowledge and feedback was vital to the
development of this project.
Finally, thank you to all those who helped with research over the duration of
this project. A special thanks to Roger Noonan for taking the time to work
with us on our visit to Manchester and explaining his goals for creating a
food hub. Thanks also to Casey Burns and the REC for working with us
along the way and providing assistance and feedback on our report.
3
Executive Summary
There is a growing consciousness in the United States—as well as other developed
nations—of the unsustainability, environmental degradation, and social inequity of the current
industrial food system. The unsustainability of it refers, among other worrying issues, to the fact
that each calorie from food requires ten calories from nonrenewable and greenhouse gas-emitting
fossil fuels (Lott, 2011). The environmental degradation refers to heavy fertilizer and pesticide
use running off into rivers and creating ocean “dead zones” (Lash, 2007). Lastly, the social
inequity refers to the indebtedness of modern farmers (Briggeman, 2010), the existence of “food
deserts,” whose residents have inadequate access to healthy food (USDA Food Desert Locator),
and the inadequate pay and working conditions of workers in the food system. Referring to this
last point, “the US Bureau of Labor Statistics listed food preparation and serving-related
occupations as the lowest paid of all occupational categories...followed by farming, fishing and
forestry occupations” and according to Oxfam, “in 2004, farm-workers suffered higher rates of
toxic chemical injuries on the job than workers in any other sector of the U.S. economy...”
(FoodFirst.org, 2009).
A compelling solution to this condition is to create a food system based on small or
mid-sized local farms. While the extent to which a local food system would address all these
issues is debatable, such a system would undeniably reduce “food miles”—the 1,500 to 3,000
miles industrially processed food travels to reach the consumer (Grace Communications
Foundation). This oft-cited statistic comes from Rich Pirog, the associate director of the Leopold
Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. In 2005, he found that the milk,
sugar, and strawberries that go into a carton of strawberry yogurt collectively journeyed 2,211
miles...just to get to the processing plant (DeWeerdt, 2011).”
Additionally, a local food economy would exhibit the advantages given for proponents of
local economies, in general. Wendell Berry—farmer and economic critic—discusses starting
local economies by first focusing on local food economies. “They want to use the local economy
to give consumers an influence over the kind and quality of their food, and to preserve land and
enhance the local landscapes. They want to give everybody in the local community a direct,
long-term interest in the prosperity, health, and beauty of their homeland (Berry, 2001).” Section
1 of this paper’s Background chapter discusses further the topic of local food.
Food Deserts
One of the problems mentioned above that is present in the global industrial food system
is the existence of regions, “food deserts,” whose residents have inadequate access to healthy,
4
unprocessed food. This is related to the distribution infrastructure built for the food system,
which is dependent on large scales—both on the supply side (vast, monoculture farms in the
fertile Midwest) and the consumer side (supermarkets unsuited to urban, low-income areas). A
local food system, less dependent on large scales, could be especially apt for addressing this
particular issue. Since diet is such an important aspect of overall health, this function would be a
public health initiative, in addition to an environmental, economic, and social justice one. As
especially emphasized in one of the interviews conducted for this project—with Wanda Givens
of the Mason Square Food Justice Initiative (Appendix B.1)—food deserts are correlated with
minority neighborhoods, making this a discrimination/racism issue, as well. The issue of food
deserts is discussed in Section 2 of the Background chapter.
Food Hubs
Emerging in response to demand for a local food system is the concept of a “food hub.”
Still quite loosely defined in this early stage of its existence, the general function of a food hub is
to aggregate the produce of several small to mid-size local farms so as to allow distribution on a
larger scale to fit in with the infrastructure already present. A diverse set of organizations fall
into this categorization—diverse both because of the loose definition of a food hub and the
necessity of local institutions to cater to the local context, an attribute that local economy
advocates would not want to lose. Section 3 of the Background delves deeper into the diversity
of food hub business models and Section 4 profiles some examples of existing food hubs.
Connecting Food Hubs with Food Deserts
The course of our project was directed toward the prospect of a food hub increasing food
access in a food desert. Though all regional food hubs—whether intentionally or not—are
contributing to change in the arenas mentioned above (environmental, economic, social equity,
public health, and discrimination), using a food hub specifically to increase food access stood out
to us because it would benefit most from
further research. We saw a supply-side
(the farming community) wanting to sell
more fresh produce and a demand-side
(under-served communities) wanting to
buy more of it. Despite this, there was
limited communication between the two
groups. This potential compatibility is
what attracted us to this project.
Figure 1: Map showing process of food from small farms to local
demand.
5
Methods
We identified the goal of our project to be as follows: “to help food hub initiatives,
particularly in the early stages, identify best practices and address key questions to increase food
access in underserved communities, specifically focusing on how such an initiative could unfold
in Worcester.” We then identified the following broad research objectives, each with specific
research questions, to focus our research.
•
•
•
•
Identify the best practices of successful food hubs.
o What motivates a farmer or entrepreneur to start a food hub?
o What informational programs and community resources are available for food
hubs?
o What is the structure and function of a food hub?
Identify the strategies of food justice organizations to improve food access.
o Where are the key low-income/low-access areas in Worcester?
o What strategies are currently being used to help improve food access?
o What food justice organizations could a Worcester food hub utilize?
Identify how food hubs have increased food access, and assess the sustainability of these
hubs.
o How can a food hub work with a food justice initiative to boost community interest,
and therefore food access? What obstacles face such a partnership?
o How does a food hub identify their niche in a community to optimize efficiency?
o How does a food hub establish itself in the consumer and farming communities?
Identify the resources needed to use food hubs to increase food access.
o Were there any trends in the practices employed by the successful food hubs
studied?
o What strategies used by the food justice organizations could be helpful to a food hub
intending to serve food deserts?
o What information would a food justice organization intending to start a food hub
like to know?
Findings
We identified the following themes under which to organize our discussion of what we
learned:
6
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Profitable farmer relations,
Communication between food justice organizations and food hubs,
The need to be a business-minded organization,
Building strong relationships with consumer partners,
Financing,
Infrastructure, and
Knowing your territory.
The first theme—profitable farmer relations—discusses the importance of developing a
good relationship between the food hub and the farmers supplying the food hub. A sufficient
number of producers should be lined up to supply the food hub before the hub is even started.
They should be invested in the success of the food hub. Engaging them in this way can be done
by including them in discussions of the food hub from the start. A close relationship between the
food hub and the farmers needs to be maintained throughout the hub’s operation. A potential
benefit of this relationship is the use of a farmer’s story in differentiating the product for sale.
Our second theme—communication between food justice organizations and food hubs—
refers to the relationship between the two stakeholders we identified as having compatible
interests—food hubs and food justice organizations. We found very little communication
between these two parties; that neither group really looked beyond their conventional place in the
current food system, despite such a system not naturally incorporating them. Food hubs targeted
the same markets that already have access to food and food justice organizations worked to
attract conventional food retail outlets to their neighborhoods—such as grocery stores and
farmers’ markets (albeit, those able to accept SNAP benefits).
Our third theme—the need to be a business-minded organization—emphasizes the fact
that a food hub is a business and therefore needs at least one individual with business acumen.
This was the major point obtained from our interview with the food hub Investment Director of
Wholesome Wave and modeled to us by the successful Intervale Food
Hub. A food hub needs a business plan and a staff member able to
commit him/herself to the business operations of the hub.
Our fourth theme—building strong relationships with
consumer partners—discusses the ways that successful food hubs have
interacted with either the institutions or individuals they serve. The
relationship between the hub and either type of consumer is benefited
by educating the consumer on the advantages of local food. Food hubs
can hold business meetings with potential institutional buyers to do
this, as well as develop a good working relationship with them. Food
hubs can educate individual consumers through the internet and social Figure 2: SNAP coupons are
accepted at many food hubs.
7
media (which most hubs utilize to market their products) or printed newsletters. Either way,
engagement is increased through an education of the benefits of local food.
Our fifth theme—financing—discusses the importance of a food hub to secure financing
from investors or financial aid to cover the high start-up costs. The decision to be for-profit or
non-profit will affect this process, something one starting a food hub should consider. The
USDA offers a comprehensive list of all their funding programs on their website. These include
State and Federal loan programs, farming grants, and other such financial aid.
Our sixth theme—infrastructure—discusses a topic that can be a challenge to starting
food hubs because of the expense of buying all the necessary equipment of a food hub. This
expense may be exasperated by the need to follow food safety regulations. The key is to utilize
all existing infrastructure that one can, and attempt to lease or borrow if one can’t. An example
of using existing infrastructure is the use of a community kitchen to process food for value-added
products. A truck is often the most expensive individual piece of infrastructure for a food hub;
leasing a truck is generally the smarter option than buying.
Our seventh theme—knowing your territory—discusses the need for a food hub to know
what their region and target market is. Their region refers to how far they are willing to travel to
sell their products. Their target market is the type of consumers within that region that they are
marketing to. An example of a food hub adapting to meet the needs of its target market is a food
hub that sold produce from a van—a “mobile market”—to accommodate residents of an area
with limited transportation options. Another example is a food hub that offered a program
designed to accommodate college students’ schedules.
Recommendations
Our group condensed the data we gathered on food hubs into a list of “key questions” that
a group or individual intending to start a food hub would need to address. These questions are
located in the first section of the Recommendations chapter. The second section of that chapter
contains suggestions for further research pertaining to food hubs.
8
Authorship
Tara Shewchuk was the author of the Executive Summary and Introduction. Her contributions
in the remaining sections of the report include the introduction and first two sections of the
Background chapter. She also wrote the final section, “Identifying the Resources Needed to Use
Food Hubs to Increase Food Access,” of the Methods chapter. Lastly, she introduced the
Findings and Recommendations chapters. She was an editor of all remaining sections. She
conducted the interviews with the Mason Square Food Justice Initiative, Drew Love, and Grace
Duffy of the REC, as well as participating in the two group interviews—with Wholesome Wave
and the REC.
Robert Mahoney was the primary author of the abstract and acknowledgements sections. In
addition, he worked on numerous subsections of the report. He wrote the Background chapter
section “Emergence of Food Hubs”, as well as the Introduction and “Identifying Best Practices
of Successful Food Hubs” sections of the Methodology. In the findings chapter, he contributed
sections concerning Financial Support, Use of Infrastructure, and Composition of Territory
(sections 4.5, 6, and 7). Furthermore, he contributed to the food hub and food justice case
studies and interviews located in the Appendix, as well as the Key Questions and Future
Research in the Conclusion.
William Frankian was the author of the Background chapter section 2.4, providing examples of
existing Food Hubs, Methods section 3.3 “Identify how Food Hubs have increased food access,
and assess the sustainability of these Hubs”, and Findings sections 4.3 and 4.4. He also
interviewed the Monadnock Farm and Community Connection Food Justice Initiative, as well as
conducted case studies of the New Hampshire Food Bank and the NH Healthy Corner Stores
network. He extensively researched the Intervale Food Hub, and did case studies of five
additional food hubs in Vermont.
Brandon Okray was the primary editor of the final report and was an author of many key
aspects of the report. He worked on the subsection Background chapter section “Challenges
Facing Food Hubs,” which discussed the issues and problems with modern food hubs that need
to be overcome. Additionally, he wrote the subsection entitled “Strategies of Food Justice
Organizations to Improve Food Access” in the Methodology of the report. In the Findings
Section of the report, Brandon contributed to the understanding and analysis of food hubs and
food justice movements. He wrote section 4.2 in the Findings Section called “Understanding the
Food System in Low-Income and Low-Access Communities.” Additionally he helped conduct
case studies of various food hubs and food justice organizations. He also performed a phone
interview with Boston Organics and Wholesome Wave.
9
Table of Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 3
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 4
Food Deserts ............................................................................................................................... 4
Food Hubs ................................................................................................................................... 5
Connecting Food Hubs with Food Deserts ................................................................................. 5
Methods....................................................................................................................................... 6
Findings....................................................................................................................................... 6
Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 8
Authorship....................................................................................................................................... 9
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 10
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 12
2.0 Background ............................................................................................................................. 13
2.1 Local Food .......................................................................................................................... 13
2.2 Emergence, Growth, and Applications of Food Hubs ........................................................ 14
2.3 Food Deserts ....................................................................................................................... 18
3.0 Methods................................................................................................................................... 20
3.1 Identifying Best Practices of Successful Food Hubs .......................................................... 20
3.2 Strategies of Food Justice Organizations to Improve Food Access .................................... 22
3.3 Identify how Food Hubs Have Increased Food Access, and Assess their Sustainability ... 24
3.4 Identifying the Resources Needed to Use Food Hubs to Increase Food Access ................ 25
4.0 Findings................................................................................................................................... 27
4.1 Profitable Farmer Relations ................................................................................................ 27
4.2 Communication Between Food Justice Organizations and Food Hubs .............................. 28
4.2.1 Food Justice Organizations Serving Food Deserts ...................................................... 28
4.2.2 Food Justice and Food Hub Relationships ................................................................... 29
10
4.3 The Need to be a Business-Minded Organization .............................................................. 30
4.4 Building Strong Relationships with Consumer Partners .................................................... 31
4.5 Financing............................................................................................................................. 33
4.6 Infrastructure ....................................................................................................................... 34
4.7 Knowing Your Territory ..................................................................................................... 35
5.0 Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 38
5.1 Key Questions to Consider When Starting a Food Hub ..................................................... 38
5.2 Areas for Further Research ................................................................................................. 40
6.0 Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 42
Appendix A: Interviews ............................................................................................................ 42
A.1 Boston Organics Food Hub ............................................................................................ 42
A.2 Drew Love...................................................................................................................... 44
A.3 Mason Square ................................................................................................................. 46
A.4 Monadnock Farm and Community Connection ............................................................. 48
A.5 Regional Environmental Council (REC) ....................................................................... 51
A.6 Regional Environmental Council (REC) ...................................................................... 52
A.7 Wholesome Wave .......................................................................................................... 54
Appendix B: Food Hub Case Studies ....................................................................................... 57
B.1 Massachusetts ................................................................................................................. 57
B.2 Vermont .......................................................................................................................... 58
B.3 Connecticut, Maine and RI............................................................................................. 59
Appendix C: Food Justice Case Studies ................................................................................... 61
C.1 Massachusetts ................................................................................................................. 61
C.2 New Hampshire and Maine ............................................................................................ 62
C.3 Vermont .......................................................................................................................... 63
C.4 Connecticut..................................................................................................................... 64
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 66
11
1.0 Introduction
One of the biggest problems facing local farmers is the constant competition with large
corporations. These businesses can invest billions of dollars into making their products cheaper,
more reliable and more efficient. Local farmers don’t have
the capital to invest in making their product better, or the
means to transport their products to markets with high
demand without accruing high costs; most of the farmer’s
time is devoted to the growing of their products.
Additionally, there are a large number of Americans
without easy access to healthy and affordable food, living
in areas known as “food deserts.” Food deserts have arisen
as a result of economic factors. Supermarket chains want to
locate in places where they can maximize profit, a
motivation that may exclude low-income areas. Also,
"bargain-oriented superstores" are often too large to viably
Figure 3: There is high demand for fresh
local produce.
operate given the small populations of rural communities, or
the small lot sizes of urban communities; they thus end up in
suburbs. The USDA estimates that groceries sold in food deserts cost an average of 10% more
than the groceries sold in these suburban markets (Trimarchi, 2008).
A food hub is an organization that aggregates and distributes the produce from small to
mid-size local farms. Such an entity could address the mentioned problems facing small, local
farmers. Additionally, a food hub serving a food desert, could address the mentioned problems
associated with this phenomena. The goal of this project was to help food hub initiatives,
particularly in the early stages, identify best practices and address key questions to increase food
access in underserved communities, specifically focusing on how such an initiative could unfold
in Worcester. We performed background research on local food, food hubs, and food deserts;
conducted case studies on food hubs and food justice organizations, including extensive
interviewing; and condensed our research into a list of “key questions” that those intending to
start a food hub need to address. We found that there is very little communication between food
hubs and food justice movements, despite compatible interests. We also found that many of the
challenges cited by interviewees in running a food hub are challenges present in running a
business, in general. We were able to group these commonly discussed topics into themes in our
findings section.
12
2.0 Background
The goal of this chapter is to provide background information on both "local food" and
"food deserts" such that the reader recognizes the advantages of local food, the problem of food
deserts, and the beneficial role that food hubs may play to simultaneously promote local food and
eliminate food deserts. It begins with a description of the local food market, leading to the
emergence, growth, and applications of food hubs, followed by information on low-food access
areas known as food deserts.
2.1 Local Food
The conventional food system refers to the system that produces and distributes the food
consumed by the majority of Americans. This system is industrialized and therefore
characterized by efficiency. However, that efficiency does not take into account many
externalized costs. These costs include monocultures of commodity crops highly subsidized by
the U.S. government; vertical integration such that a small number of corporations control and
profit from the production, processing, and sale of food; reliance on food imports and exports;
and global monopolies made possible by biotechnology and globalization (Campbell, 2004). In
response, the past several years has seen the emergence of an alternative food system, built
around local food. There is no universal definition of local food; some definitions do not even
describe local food based on geography, instead characterizing it based on the social implications
or the supply chain it passed through. For our purposes, however, the definition developed in the
2008 Farm Act regarding the Value-Added Agricultural Market Development program is
appropriate. This "defines the total distance that a product can be transported and still be eligible
for marketing as a 'locally or regionally produced agricultural food product' as less than 400
miles from its origin, or the State in which it is produced (Martinez, 2010)."
According to the “Regional Food Hub Resource Guide” published by the USDA, in a
2011 consumer survey, 86% of respondents called the presence of local foods “very important”
or “somewhat important” to their choice of food store. Additionally, chefs voted locally grown
foods as the top restaurant trend for 2012
for the fourth year in a row (Barham et. al,
2012). Andy Pressman, Southern New
Hampshire farmer and member of the
National Center for Appropriate
Technology (NCAT), told of the high
demand in his region for local products in
a recent interview. His findings echo
statistics indicating high demand for local
food. He also told of the difficulties faced
Figure 4: NCAT
13
by the local farmers of meeting this demand (Pressman, 2012).
Compared to the farms of the conventional food system, local farmers tend to run small
or mid-size farms. The small production volumes necessitate that wholesale buyers wishing to
purchase local food buy from numerous farms, thereby increasing transaction costs. Other
difficulties for these farmers are due to their inability to supply year-round and the logistics cost
(Bosona & Gebresenbet, 2011). They often lack the capital or facilities to store, process, and
distribute their products; and lack the staff or experience to devote to business and marketing.
The USDA is aware of these circumstances. In their aforementioned Resource Guide they wrote,
“Many farmers and ranchers – especially smaller operations – are challenged by the lack of
distribution and processing infrastructure of appropriate scale that would give them wider access
to retail, institutional, and commercial foodservice markets, where demand for local and regional
foods continues to rise (Barham et al, 2012).”
The inability for local farmers to meet the demand for their products wastes an
opportunity to benefit both these local farmers and the local economy. Local farmers could
benefit here because they receive a greater share of the retail price from a local supply chain than
from the conventional one. The local economy could benefit because increasing local food
production creates jobs, generates business taxes, and increases earnings throughout the region
(Barham et al, 2012). Additional benefits have the potential to arise if local farmers distribute
their produce in food deserts
2.2 Emergence, Growth, and Applications of Food Hubs
Food hubs offer a combination of production, distribution, and marketing services that
allow small farmers to gain entry into new and additional markets that would be difficult or
impossible to access on their own (Singleton, 2011). For many years, the only viable retail
options for small to mid-scale farmers were small farmers markets or selling directly to
individual consumers. This was not a
large enough market to support these
farmers’ growth, and so food hubs started
to emerge. Local CSA (Community
Supported Agriculture) programs
originally developed food hubs. CSAs
usually sell shares of a single farms’
produce to individuals or families; larger
CSAs looking to expand into larger
organizations and access larger markets
provided the impetus for food hubs to
emerge. The food hubs started to spring
up in warehouses, farm buildings, and
Figure 5: Local farms at a food hub
14
other structures large enough to house high volumes of produce. Many hubs shared the goal of
assisting farmers with production, distribution, and marketing.
Food hubs can greatly reduce transaction costs of institutional and retail buyers by
providing a single point of purchase for consistent and reliable supplies of source-identified
products from local and regional producers (Borst, 2010). This single point of purchase allows
large institutions such as schools, supermarkets, and restaurants to purchase large amounts of
local produce, much larger amounts than if they were limited to the individual farmers markets
that were originally the only option. Not only do they get a consistent supply of fresh produce,
they can track that produce back to the original producer and know that it is locally grown. This
in turn opens up a much larger market for the farmers, allowing them to be sure of selling all the
produce and goods they produce, as opposed to producing said goods and hoping to be able to
find buyers in the future.
Food hubs can also add significant value
to traditional distribution channels, by enabling
them to offer a broader and more diverse
selection of local or regional products. In the
past, a farmers market may have ten farmers
each selling similar products. With the advent
of food hubs, farms can work with each other
and the hub to plan out which farm grows what,
with every farm growing different crops. This
significantly diversifies the product base
available to the consumer and therefore creates
a larger market. This brings in new customers
Figure 6: View of the Headwater food hub.
and in turn adds value to the whole food system.
A number of different styles of food
hubs have emerged in North America, basing their services on unique market demand and
entrepreneurship capabilities (Starkman, 2011). These include non-profit driven models,
entrepreneurship ventures that have created sole proprietorships or corporations that take a
portion of the profits from the food hub, retail driven models created by individual stores, and
even virtual food hubs that operate completely online.
USDA data shows that currently nearly a third of food hubs are non-profit. These nonprofit driven models are run with the sole intention of supporting regional farmers and making
healthy, local food widely available. The food hub itself does not make a profit; revenue covers
employees’ salaries and other expenses. The intention of having a non-profit model for a food
hub is to keep produce costs as low as possible while still maintaining the farmers’ selling price.
Other food hubs have been started by entrepreneurs looking to use the food hub as a
business venture. Entrepreneur or for-profit driven models are run with just that intention: to
make a profit. Generally, the prices of the produce are slightly higher, but often this is
15
accompanied by better facilities and larger selection due to the owner’s capital gains allowing
them to improve and increase infrastructure over time.
Two of the most recent forms of food hubs to emerge are retail driven models and virtual
food hubs. Some retail stores and supermarkets use their facilities and combined consumer
support to start successful retail model food hubs. These create wholesale market opportunities
for their customers, offering them a direct supply line of fresh local produce. Virtual food hubs
operate completely online, offering “farm to table” services. This allows customers to order
products from the food hub on the internet and have them delivered to their homes or businesses.
This is especially useful for restaurants, which can place an order at night online for the next
day’s produce, and have it delivered in the morning.
A number of technological advances in food hub infrastructure have developed in recent
years to make food hubs more efficient (Singleton, 2011). Most food hubs are behind the curve
technologically when they first start out and lack all the possible processing and management
programs that could increase their production and efficiency. A main reason for this lack of
technology is the cost; however new, more affordable options are beginning to surface.
Matchmaking programs are starting to become popular, particularly with virtual food
hubs. Matchmakers allow larger institutions to find and connect with food hubs in their region.
Internet-based buying clubs (such as are used in virtual food hubs) are also becoming more
popular due to their ease of use and the fact that they provide the consumer with a way to access
local produce without having to physically travel to a distribution location. Distribution and
management technologies are also advancing. New software is beginning to emerge that keeps
track of all accounting and financial aspects of the food hub, making life much easier for the
managers. One of the most widely used and popular examples of this is accounting software that
offers systematic instructions on how to handle all aspects of financial record keeping. Classes
and seminars are also starting to be offered teaching the main aspects of managing a food hub,
from financial and managerial standpoints. If all of these new technologies and resources are
taken advantage of, the production and efficiency of food hubs could be greatly increased.
The USDA “Food Hub Resource Guide” provides a broad description of the functions of
a food hub. For this project, it was important to identify
examples of food hubs that also aided local food deserts.
Additionally, these hubs should be well-established parts of
their communities and have good economic practices in order
to serve as good models from which to learn.
Due to the independent formation of food hubs across
the country, most hubs have emerged as organizations
specialized to fit the needs of their local communities. The
Mad River food hub in Waitsfield, VT has specialized in
storage and value-added processing. Opened in January 2012, Figure 7: Logo of the Mad River food
hub.
the food hub allows farmers to rent out its space at reasonable
16
rates. The hub provides three processing rooms, one for vegetables and two for meats, as well as
industrial-scale freezing and cooling rooms. The hub’s designers also incorporated eco-friendly
design features to reduce operating costs, such as utilizing winter air to cool stored food
(Partridge, 2012). The food hub is fully licensed at the state and federal levels for meat
processing. This important accomplishment ensures the credibility and safety of meat produced
from the hub when it reaches consumers. Offering licensed meat processing facilities also makes
the food hub unique for its area (Levitt, 1998). This is also a significant advantage for the local
farmers, since there are very few meat-processing facilities in New England.
The Mad River food hub collaborated with another local distributor to purchase a
refrigerated truck. This allows each hub to increase the amount of deliveries they can make, as
well as reach locations that do not have loading docks. According to their website, “distribution
takes place once a week and includes local deliveries in the Mad River Valley followed by stops
in Montpelier, Waterbury, [and] Burlington (Freenstra, 2012).” By supporting cold storage, truck
deliveries, and licensed processing facilities, the Mad River food hub demonstrates the potential
food hubs have to improve productivity and marketability of local farms.
Another example of a highly specialized food hub is The Farmers Cow, based out of
Lebanon, CT. This hub works entirely with milk and dairy products produced by six local
farmers. The Farmer’s Cow serves to connect these dairy products with grocery stores, large
restaurants, and local institutions. This hub conducts marketing operations through its website,
and also through the cartons it sells its milk in. The vision of this hub has met with success; after
eight years of operation it now sells to over 100 locations, and has opened its own café to
hallmark its products.
The Intervale food hub in
Burlington, VT began in 2007 as a
research project by The Intervale
Center. The Center is a non-profit
organization dedicated to
strengthening community food
systems, and has been in operation
since 1988. The Intervale food
hub now services the greater
Burlington community. The
mission of The Intervale food hub
Figure 8: The Intervale food hub of Burlington, VT.
is “to increase local food
production and consumption and… to market and distribute local foods in a way that ensures fair
prices for farmers (Intervale Center, 2012).”
The economic engine of this food hub is its CSA distribution model. The hub receives
produce from 24 participating farms, each within 75 miles of Burlington. It then combines the
17
produce and ships specific amounts, or ‘shares,’ to more than 50 delivery locations in the area
(Singleton, 2011). Intervale food hub also provides a wholesale marketing service for farmers,
and a distribution service for local restaurants, schools, or grocers (Berman, 2011). By adopting a
CSA model, the hub is able to magnify the reach of its farmers’ food without the need to
negotiate with existing markets for sales space.
Food hubs can also provide a wide variety of social benefits to a community and can
serve more purposes than generating more market opportunity for farmers. Food hubs create
awareness about not just eating healthy but also buying local in order to maintain more selfreliant communities. Food hubs can provide a great service to a community in terms of
strengthening bonds and relationships among its residents. Some food hubs are driven by the
community and the community volunteers to help with packaging, distribution and sales of the
food hub. Additionally, food hubs can create jobs and opportunities for employment within the
local community. Food hubs create employment not just for farmers but also for the individuals
that run the food hub. Food hubs have also been known to provide food bank donations, health
screenings, cooking demonstrations, and recycling programs (USDA, 2012).
2.3 Food Deserts
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines "food deserts" as "areas
that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that
make up the full range of a healthy diet (CDC, 2012). The Mari Gallagher Research and
Consulting Group emphasizes that food deserts do not lack food, in general; rather, they are
characterized by an imbalance of food choice - a heavy concentration of unhealthy food options,
called fringe foods (Mari Gallagher Research Group, 2010). In other words, a lack of healthy
affordable produce in an area
forces the population to rely more
on unhealthy fast foods, therefore
increasing health risks. Though
the relationship is not proven, it
has been hypothesized that
disparities in food access may
contribute to the disparities in
health due to race, ethnicity, or
socioeconomic status (Ver Ploeg
et al, 2009). This is based on the
hypothesis that the food
environment (accessibility to
Figure 9: Map of the USDA food desert locator centered on Worcester, MA.
18
stores and restaurants) impacts decisions about one's diet, which is a factor in one's risk of
disease such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. These diseases are detrimental to the U.S.
health care system, as well as to the individual. "The estimated cost to the U.S. health care
system due to obesity and obesity-related problems is $100 billion a year (Trimarchi, 2008)."
A map of the areas with food
deserts in Worcester is provided, using
the USDA Food Desert Locator mapping
tool. These areas are classified as food
deserts by this new definition provided
by the USDA—an area where there is no
grocery store or supermarket within a
half mile, for an urban area. These areas
have different issues than most
traditional markets.
Food deserts in urban areas like
Worcester have been traditionally
challenging to serve because of the lack
of economic market potential (Bonne,
Figure 10: Further food desert map, with Worcester City
2011). For example, notice in Worcester
outlined.
that the areas of poverty tend to be the
same as the areas designated as food
deserts.. These economic challenges that residents in food deserts have make it difficult for food
distribution centers to stay in business because of the limited buying power of the residents.
Another challenge that residents in urban food deserts have is that most individuals don’t
have a means of transportation to travel to supermarkets or grocery stores located long distances
away. This makes it more difficult for grocery stores to attract more customers and therefore less
attractive for large grocery stores and supermarkets to establish there.
Residents in food deserts obtain food through: fast food restaurants, corner stores, food
justice organizations, community gardens/kitchens, soup kitchens/homeless shelters, urban
agriculture plots, and institutions (schools, hospitals, prisons, community centers). Food justice
and food security organizations have currently been trying to overcome the issue of food deserts
through programs that promote healthy, local and/or organic food in urban food deserts.
19
3.0 Methods
The goal of this project is to help food hub initiatives, particularly in the early stages,
identify best practices and address key questions to increase food access in underserved
communities, specifically focusing on how such an initiative could unfold in Worcester. The
following is a list of objectives that helped us accomplish this goal:
•
•
•
•
Identify best practices of successful food hubs that could be used as a guide for a
Worcester food hub.
Identify strategies used by food justice organizations to improve food access in lowincome and low food-access communities.
Identify how food hubs have attempted to increase food access and assess the
outcomes of these efforts by researching other model food hubs and working with
organizations that specialize in the startup and sustainability of food hubs.
Identify what resources, skills, and partnerships are needed to launch and sustain
food hubs working to increase food access.
This chapter describes the blueprint for our project and the broad questions that we are
addressing. An important point to note is that while this research is primarily focused on the
Worcester area, this approach can be adapted for starting food hubs in other areas.
3.1 Identifying Best Practices of Successful Food Hubs
What motivates a farmer or entrepreneur to start a food hub?
At the start of our project, we worked with Roger Noonan, a farmer in Manchester, New
Hampshire who had recently purchased a facility previously used for processing apples with the
hopes of transforming it into a food hub. Unfortunately, his project was delayed and we were
not able to continue working with him, but through our initial conversations, along with a visit to
the potential food hub facility, we were able to better visualize how a food hub would look and
run, as well as why a farmer starts a food hub in the first place. Roger explained to us his
personal goal of using the food hub as a business to generate an income for himself, but he also
stressed the importance of connecting local farmers with a larger market. Roger is a farmer
himself with first-hand experience, and he explained the challenges a small to mid-scale farmer
faces when trying to compete with giant food companies. His goal with the Manchester hub was
to give the farmers in the region a steady outlet for their crops that they could count on in the
future.
20
What informational programs and community resources are available for food hubs?
Our sponsor for this project, Andy Pressman, is a contributing member of the National
Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), a group working to increase natural resource
sustainability. Through working with Andy, we were able to identify how a food hub could be
linked with organic farmers, knowing that many consumers would like to see organic food
available for purchase. Mr. Pressman was able to give us valuable information regarding this
issue, noting that many food hubs initially are not able to operate with purely organic inventory
due to the large demand a food hub faces and the relatively small supply of organic
produce. NCAT, along with other organizations discussed later (such as Wholesome Wave)
offers programs to link food organizations such as food hubs with the community. Mr. Pressman
also connected us with the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), an organization
offering sustainable food and organic community interest programs. NOFA offers a number of
programs that could be useful to a food hub, such as their Organic Food Guide and CSA Connect
program.
NOFA also offers winter and summer conferences for the farming community in the
Northeast. About halfway through the completion of our project we were given the opportunity
to present our current findings at the 2013 NOFA/Mass Winter Conference. Through presenting
at this conference, we were able to get extremely valuable feedback from the audience of the
farming community, much of which acted to guide us in our future research.
What is the structure and function of a food
hub?
In order to identify successful
practices in food hubs, our team conducted
case studies of seventeen food hubs in New
England, the data matrix for which can be
found in (Appendix B). The reason for
limiting our research to New England was
the unique climate, growing season, and
scale in this region. For example, food hubs
in the Midwest may deal with extremely
large volumes of crops with little variation
in type due to the large-scale Midwest
farms they are supplied by, while a New
England hub would generally focus on
diversified small-scale farms.
Figure 11: This diagram shows the large variety of organizations that a food
hub can have ties to in the community
21
These case studies were done both through literature reviews and through interviews with
professionals in related fields in order to understand the economic, institutional, and operational
context from which best practices emerge in successful hubs. Our team organized the food hubs
by state, and then identified what we thought of as the key factors of the hubs’ operation. These
included the financing options the hub uses, distribution methods to get food to consumers,
business models, target markets, as well as the history and evolution of the hub itself. By
gathering this data for each food hub and then doing a comparative analysis, we were able to
pick out what we saw as the most common and most successful practices.
In order to further our research of food hubs our team conducted a number of interviews
with food hub managers across New England. These included Boston Organics, Mason Square,
and Mondadnock Farms, as well as interview with the Regional Environmental Council of
Worcester and Wholesome Wave, a company specializing in food hub development. The
information gained from these interviews were vital to our findings, and copies of said interview
can be found in Appendix A.
3.2 Strategies of Food Justice Organizations to Improve Food Access
Where are the key low-income/low-access areas in Worcester?
In order to better understand the Worcester food system, we used the Food Desert
Locator on the USDA website. The Food Desert Locator is an interactive map based web tool
that uses census data to see how much of the Worcester community is classified as a low food
access and low-income area. This tool helped our team gauge the situation of the Worcester
community and other neighboring areas. A map of the food deserts in Worcester can be seen in
the Background Section 2.2. Once we realized the rates of low food-access and low-income, we
tried to look at who was already trying to distribute food to people in these areas.
What strategies are currently being used to help improve food access?
Similar to the food hub case studies, our team made a matrix that looked at 12 food
justice organizations in New England (matrix located in Appendix C). These organizations were
compared based on a series of different criteria: distribution methods (how does the food justice
organization bring food into the community), financial support (grants, donations, etc.), targeted
community, programs offered and their contact information.
22
The data for the matrix was gathered through research, as well as phone and in-person
interviews with several food justice organizations. Through the interviews, we were hoping to
better understand: how they operate and their structure, the challenges they faced, their funding
and anything interesting that we found during the initial case study research. We ended up
completing six interviews with: Wholesome Wave, Regional Environmental Council, MFCC,
Worcester Food Bank, Boston Organics and Mason Square. These interviews were very helpful
in understanding the market that a food hub established in Worcester would be serving.
Food Justice Organizations Researched:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Regional Environmental Council (MA)*
Mason Square Food Justice Initiative (MA)*
Buy CT Grown (CT)
CT Food Bank (CT)
Wholesome Wave (CT)*
New Hampshire Food Bank (NH)
Monadnock Farm and Community Connection (NH)*
New Hampshire Healthy Corner Stores (NH)
Central Vermont Food Systems Council (VT)
Vermont Feed (VT)
NOFA Vermont (VT)
Cultivating Community (ME)
*Interviews Conducted (Appendix A)
What food justice organizations could a Worcester food hub utilize?
For a Worcester food hub specifically, several food justice organizations could help
establish a food hub within Worcester. One of those most likely to spearhead a food hub in
Worcester was the Regional Environmental Council (REC), which is already working with local
farmers to run a mobile farmers market in the Worcester area. Additionally they are able to
source a small amount of food from within the city from urban gardens. We wanted to know if
these existing supply lines would facilitate their organizing, collecting and distributing this food
to large institutional markets.
Another organization that was helpful to talk to about a food hub in Worcester is
Wholesome Wave, which has been a rapidly growing food justice organization, from its double
points SNAP/EBT program. Wholesome Wave was the only food justice organization that was
23
directly working with food hubs. The organization provides financing and consulting to
emerging food hubs. We conducted an interview with Victoria Foster, the program director of
their Food Hub Investment Program, in which we tried to get a sense of their process of assisting
these mission-driven food hubs. A summary of this interview is located in Appendix A.7.
3.3 Identify how Food Hubs Have Increased Food Access, and Assess their
Sustainability
How can a food hub work with a food justice initiative to boost community interest, and
therefore food access? What obstacles face such a partnership?
Our parallel research into food hubs
and food justice movements was done with
the goal of determining whether a
connection already existed between the two
and, if not, if such a connection would be
feasible and useful. A lack of prior research
into this subject prompted us to conduct case studies and interviews with existing food hubs and
food justice organizations. Our research included gathering information on effective campaigns
put on by food hubs and food justice
Figure 12: Wholesome Wave's marketing logo.
movements to improve awareness and
community involvement with local food. Our complete case studies can be found in Appendices
B and C.
How does a food hub identify their niche in a community to optimize market efficiency?
Our team gathered data on existing efforts in the field of fostering community
connections to local growers. We conducted interviews with the Wholesome Wave food justice
initiative and the Monadnock Farm and Community Connection, as well as performed case
studies on many other food justice organizations. These groups are both committed to bridging
the gap between small-scale farmers and the communities around them. We also studied what
food hubs do in order to connect with the individual buyers in their community.
How does a food hub establish itself in the consumer and farming communities?
Once a niche is identified, we wanted to better understand the steps a food hub could take
to fully leverage these opportunities. Limited documentation exists about this area of research,
but we utilized our previous case studies—particularly the one on the Intervale Center—to
24
understand how a food hub could form a strong connection to the community. Our interviews
and case studies helped us understand the strategies a food hub could utilize in order to gain a
valued place in the food system of many communities of varying size and composition.
3.4 Identifying the Resources Needed to Use Food Hubs to Increase Food Access
Through analysis of data collected for previous research objectives and an additional
interview with the Food Justice Investment Program Director of Wholesome Wave (See
Appendix A.7) specifically for this objective, our group researched how to use a food hub to
connect the compatible causes of increasing local food consumption and increasing food access
in food deserts.
Were there any trends in the practices employed by the successful food hubs studied?
The first of these research questions was approached by analyzing the data matrices created from
the food hub case studies. These data matrices were organized under the following criteria:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Food Hub Name
State/Area
Financing
Distribution Methods
Business Type (profit vs. non-profit)
Target market
Community interest/links to community
Marketing
Governance/Structure
History & Evolution
Impact on community
Specifically, we looked for trends in each of the criteria. We attempted to explain a lack of any
trend.
What strategies used by the food justice organizations could be helpful to a food hub intending to
serve food deserts?
This second research question was also approached by utilizing the data matrices created
from case studies—this time on food justice organizations. The criteria used in the matrices were
as follows:
25
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Movement Name
State
Year Founded
Serving Strategy (what they do with the food once they get it)
Supporters (grants, federal programs, etc.)
Community served
Other Programs/Services They Provide (that may not involve food distribution)
Website
Our focus was especially on identifying successful strategies used to improve food access that
would be useful to a food hub attempting this same function.
What information would a food justice organization intending to start a food hub like to know?
The final question was approached by organizing a meeting with members of the REC of
Worcester to directly ask them this question. Our objective from the meeting was to identify a
product within our group’s ability and the timeline for the project that would be of some use to
them in this initiative. We traveled to their office (all other interviews were conducted over the
phone) to have a face-to-face conversation with the Executive Director of the REC, the Food
Justice Program Director, and a graduate student working for them on this topic. We discussed
the topic for about an hour and 15 minutes (See Appendix A.6). We told them what we had done
over the course of the project, asked them what they had done toward their food hub initiative to
date, and discussed the utility and feasibility of potential deliverables from our project.
26
4.0 Findings
Through an academic year of thinking, reading, and talking about food hubs, a
culmination of advice on starting a successful one was collected. This advice could be grouped
into themes, while maintaining the references from which each piece of advice was obtained. A
focus on food access is incorporated throughout the themes, as well as being the sole topic of
section two.
4.1 Profitable Farmer Relations
While food hubs face a variety of major challenges, one of the most significant
challenges is generating a good supply line from the farmers/producers they are working with.
No matter what kind of food hub it is, it needs to have suppliers lined up to provide the food. In
addition, in order to make a successful food hub, there must be a sufficient number of producers
who are invested in the success of the food hub. There are a large number of examples that we
have seen where food hubs have a great vision but just lack the supply to make it affordable and
feasible.
One of the first issues we saw first-hand when working with Roger Noonan was that it is
difficult to get farmers involved in a food hub. At the time, Roger had only two farmers lined up
to supply the food hub, including himself. He was looking for his food hub to output a few
million dollars’ worth of food each year. In order to obtain this volume, he was looking to branch
out to more farmers. However, Roger said that when he talked with other farmers they were
looking for him to start placing continuous orders for what they had and were not entirely
interested in trying to make the food hub successful.
Additionally, when talking with the Regional Environmental Council (REC) we found
that they had a good network of farmers for their Mobile Food Market program but would
require reaching out to other farmers to maintain the mainstream supply that is required to fulfill
the required demand of a food hub.
It is important not only to receive the quantity of supply promised by farmers, but also to
maintain very close relationships between the food hub and the farmers. From our case studies,
we found that these connections are very important. One very successful food hub that does just
this is called The Farmer’s Cow. This food hub distributes milk in Connecticut to a large number
of supermarkets and grocery stores. Their food hub consists of six farmers that are able to
maintain supply for the food hub and receive effective community engagement and marketing
from it. From their inspiring mission statement to their newsletter and farm tours, they know how
to market their product to the community (See Appendix B.3).
In our discussion with Wholesome Wave, the representative we spoke to said that there
was a lot of value in being able to develop a story for your product. It is important to approach an
27
institution or any customer with more than just saying you have fresh food to offer. A food hub’s
customers like to know the value of the food; providing the story of the farmers can make a huge
difference in this. A method that our sponsor Andy suggested to make sure that the farmers feel
engaged in the food hub is to make sure that they are included in some discussions and decisions
from the start. This will prompt farmers to invest more than just their food to the food hub.
4.2 Communication Between Food Justice Organizations and Food Hubs
Two of the questions raised by our group in looking at the potential of food hubs in food
deserts were: What are the major organizations trying to serve residents in food deserts? Would
they be willing to work with a food hub? When looking further into this issue, we found that fast
food and other restaurants; corner stores/general stores and food justice organizations were the
key providers of food in low-access areas.
4.2.1 Food Justice Organizations Serving Food Deserts
Food justice and food security organizations are actively trying to bring local, healthy
and/or organic food into areas that could not normally obtain it. In order to best understand food
justice organizations, we developed case studies to look into several criteria. The goal of these
case studies would be to allow our team to look at a variety of different food justice
organizations across a large range of different topics. These topics would highlight key elements
in the organization like the history, target audience, operations, programs and impact. The food
justice organizations we researched were analyzed using the following criteria:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Movement Name
State
Year Founded
Serving/Distribution Strategy
Supporters (grants, federal programs, etc.)
Community Served
Other Programs They Provide
Website
We only looked at the food justice organizations in New England, since the New England
food system is different from food systems in the rest of the country. Food Systems in New
England have to overcome certain challenges, such as densely populated urban areas, seasonal
changes in climate, small to medium scale farmers and different buyer interests. Our group chose
28
12 examples of food justice organizations to analyze (See Appendix C). These food justice
organizations came from a variety of different states across New England.
We found that these food justice organizations can have a variety of different missions
but generally were geared to finding ways to bring in healthy food to low access/food desert
communities. Some other similarities found among food justice organizations is that they tend to
be non-profit organizations relying on funding from grants and sponsorships. From what we
found none of the organizations we looked at got the majority of the funding from revenue for
food distribution serves.
There were several distinct differences we found among food justice organizations but
the biggest was the way these organizations tried to serve/distribute food to low access
communities. Half of the food justice organizations we studied try to distribute fresh food by
establishing and managing farmers’ markets within the low access communities. Several other
food justice organizations like the Intervale Food Hub, Cultivating Community and BuyCT
Grown use CSA to distribute food. Some food justice organizations would provide information
on farmers in the local area and promote eating local in schools, like Vermont Feed.
4.2.2 Food Justice and Food Hub Relationships
However, after looking extensively at food justice organizations, we found that there was
very little communication between food hubs and food justice organizations to work on serving
low-access areas. Food hubs can make a very large impact in the community and can provided a
great service to the community, especially those located near “food deserts.” However, there are
challenges that a food hub must overcome in order to be successful. Their issues can range from
infrastructure, logistics, marketing, funding, contracts and legal problems. Usually these factors
are easier to overcome once a food hub is established, but a beginning hub must give these issues
serious consideration.
The Intervale Food Hub was the only food hub truly working with a food justice
organization and has become very successful in doing so. The Intervale Food Hub is a food hub
that was founded in 2008 and it receives a lot of its backing from the Intervale Center, a nonprofit organization trying to strengthen food systems. This partnership makes it less critical to be
profitable and more focused on its mission. When looking at the success of the Intervale Hub it
raises the question of why there isn’t more food hub-food justice partnerships, when food hub
and food justice organization have such compatible interests?
From the trends we saw in both of our food hub and food justice case studies, we saw that
the food hub organizations are looking at market potential. Food hubs are looking for people who
are willing to pay more for locally grown food and as discussed in the background, a food desert
is generally located in low-income area. A good example of a food hub serving several small
food deserts is Boston Organics Food Hub. They exclusively serve organic food, which was one
of three of the food hubs we studied that did this. They source their food from farms in CT, MA,
NH, and even from ME. The reason for this food hub’s success is that they are serving the
29
Boston area, which in addition to having some food deserts has a lot of buying power for organic
food.
As we saw with Roger Noonan’s case, food hubs need to be able to generate support
from farmers/suppliers to the idea of a food hub. This can be more difficult to do in food desert
areas because typically suburban farmers are small to medium scale. In order for a small to
medium scale farmer to serve a food hub, he/she may need to give up their stake in their CSA or
farmers market as well. This can be dangerous for the farmer if the food hub fails within a year
or two. Then the farmer is left having to reestablish those customer relations they already had.
Once these farmers are supplying the food hub, the most difficult day-to-day job of the
food hub is balancing the supply and demand. What most food hubs are seeing is that the
demand for locally grown food is much greater than the local farmers can produce. Then the
food hub has to consider what to sell during the winter months. Most farmers that have to deal
with seasonal weather are not interested in selling during the winter because it can be a gamble
and requires learning new practices. Boston Organics has to resort to shipping in produce from
various areas of the country in order to maintain consistent production to their customers. These
problems can plague a food hub that is trying to work with food justice movement to help serve
food deserts.
When we talked to the REC of Worcester, they sounded very interested in helping
support the development of a food hub to serve low-access and food desert communities.
According to our research, they would be one of few organizations in New England to do so.
However, this means they must overcome several big challenges such as funding, staff
commitment and business expertise. They hope that they will be able to keep it sustainable
through other means than just revenue. However, they do intend to have the revenue cover a
significant portion of costs to run the food hub.
4.3 The Need to be a Business-Minded Organization
The hallmark of a successful food hub is an emphasis on good business planning and
development. Many successful food hubs have the support of at least one dedicated entrepreneur
from the beginning. This focused individual is a dynamic source of innovation for the food hub
as it begins operations, and is a source of business acumen. Essential decisions about the hub’s
future flow from that group or individual. The entrepreneurial spirit is a powerful influence on
the food hub, steering it away from becoming a merely ideological establishment and grounding
its plans in viable business strategy.
The value of business-minded development is supported by evidence gathered from our
interview with Wholesome Wave and the Intervale food hub case study. With its experience in
assisting many food hubs towards financial sustainability, Wholesome Wave has found that hubs
with an already established business plan succeeded most often. Those plans were often created
by a single motivated volunteer or employee working on the hub, and were detailed enough to
30
provide Wholesome Wave with enough confidence to invest in the project. During our
interview, the representative stressed multiple times that a business-minded entrepreneur is key
to the success of the food hub. They also mentioned that Wholesome Wave does not give
‘mission-driven’ hubs a lot of consideration. ‘Mission-driven’ implies that the hub was founded
only on the ideal of helping organize local farmers, or to increase food access. According to
Wholesome Wave, these hubs do not often have a well thought-out business plan or a high
degree of fiscal responsibility. A motivated employee or group of directors would provide the
hub with these assets, while also freeing up resources to focus on the mission.
The Intervale food hub is a prime example of a business-minded organization. During
the formation of the food hub in 2007, the Intervale Center hired a full-time, paid employee to be
their food hub Coordinator. She has an extensive background in both farming and business
management, and serves on the Board of Directors for NOFA in Vermont. Her capabilities in
these regards allowed her to effectively manage the growing business and establish a plan for its
fiscal success. It was also through her efforts that the food hub established personal connections
with their farmers during the planning and construction phase, which helped secure the hub’s
supply of produce for the future. The Intervale food hub continues to grow in the Burlington
region because of the Coordinator’s early creation of a robust business plan.
It is evident from our research that a food hub should have at least one member of its staff
dedicated to both the business and financial planning of the enterprise. It is not enough to be an
organization with connections between farmers and consumers; without a viable business plan, a
hub will quickly fall apart due to lack of governance and foresight. A new food hub should
make hiring a well-qualified full time coordinator a top priority. The contributions they provide
will have a high return on investment.
4.4 Building Strong Relationships with Consumer Partners
Successful food hubs also establish good working relationships between retailers,
consumers, and large buying institutions. Institutions may have very little knowledge about the
origins or quality of the food that they serve, as it is provided by large corporate distributors.
This is especially concerning for institutions with populations with strong feelings about food
traceability, such as universities. By providing consumer education about the sources of local
food, as well as information about environmental and social impacts of buying local, food hubs
can play a vital role in both changing the source of institutional food and in educating a
population about the food system. Being a source for education also builds strong relationships
with individual consumers.
31
For food hubs that rely on individual purchases, such as those with CSA distribution
models, we found that most hubs utilize the internet and social media sites to spread their
message and market their products. Other hubs have printed newsletters, which they send
regularly to subscribers. These are very effective strategies, as it requires very little effort on the
consumer’s part to acquire a great deal of information
on the hub. The internet also allows food hubs to offer
digital sales capabilities, which reduces the consumer’s
need to travel to the hub itself. Utilizing the wellestablished notion of providing helpful and friendly
staff for the hub is also a good pathway to success.
These employees or volunteers will guide new
customers through the process of buying from the hub.
The positive attitude and large knowledge base of these
people will benefit the hub’s public image and help
attract more business.
Some food hubs also provide more for their
communities than a source of food. For example, The
Intervale food hub hosts public farming demonstrations,
and local bands often play a part in the hub’s seasonal
sales. These offerings help engage the community and
establish the food hub as a permanent fixture in the
region. Involving the hub in established local activities,
such as a summer fair or parade day, is also a good
strategy to gain more business.
Figure 13: Example of an event promoting
local food, Earth Day and Spring Fest.
Larger institutions require a nonconventional
approach to marketing. Andy Pressman at NCAT and
Wholesome Wave has seen many hubs pursue the strategy of holding business meetings between
hub representatives and the potential institutional buyer. These meetings are official events
meant to discuss the capacity of the hub to supply the institution’s needs, and to be information
sessions about the advantages of local food. food hubs have the ability to provide farm-to-table
traceability for their produce, which can be a boon for institutions with sustainability initiatives.
These meetings can also establish a contract for the hub’s delivery services.
It is important for any food hub to appeal to its consumers, either institutional or
individual. food hubs offer a unique alternative to conventional forms of food access, and
business-minded hubs take advantage of that through their advertising. Food hubs serving
institutional markets also benefit from advertising the advantages of buying local to their
consumers. Institutions can benefit financially by offering local food, and their profits increase
by using a food hub’s efficient distribution model.
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4.5 Financing
A food hub needs some source of financial support to be successful, either from investors
or financial aid programs. The startup overhead cost of operating a food hub is, in general, too
high for entrepreneurs to handle on their own, but many funding options are available to them.
These options include federal, state, and private funding as well as private companies dedicated
to investing in food hubs and assisting them in their early years.
During our research period, we conducted an interview and case study for one such
company: Wholesome Wave. This company operates to assist food hubs in startup, acting as a
so called “angel investor” for the hub, with the goal of establishing organizations which can
increase healthy food access in communities. Victoria Foster, the representative for Wholesome
Wave we were able to interview, stressed the importance of strong financing in food hubs. .
Victoria explained to us how on a fundamental level food hubs are businesses, and just like any
other business they need sufficient capital and revenue to operate. Victoria explained how many
hubs started by a coalition of farmers with the goal of helping the community tend to fail, simply
because the managers of the hub do not focus enough on the financing aspect of the business.
The hub can by all means be used to help the community and improve food access, but must at
all times be run as a business with the necessary sales revenue to stay functional.
Wholesome Wave does not just invest in food hubs, but also serve as advisors and
consultants for the hubs’ management to ensure that the hub runs efficiently and their investment
stays profitable. Once a hub has determined a solid business plan and has a driving entrepreneur
or manager, Wholesome Wave will invest the needed startup capital and then work with said
managers to find the best business options for the future of the hub. This could be an extremely
useful program for a food hub in Worcester, with the hub benefiting both from the financial aid
of the program and the extensive experience of Wholesome Wave’s consultants.
Our research has shown that a food hub’s business model, that is whether they are forprofit or non-profit, is often the deciding factor for funding options. The majority of non-profit
food hubs cannot operate solely based off revenue, and as such rely heavily on either private
investors or financial aid. A factor in this finding is the non-profit organizations operating on a
smaller scale, catering to individuals and smaller groups rather than institutions. This smaller
sales volume leads to smaller revenue, meaning the hub must find funds somewhere else to cover
their expenses.
Through our research analysis of the various food hubs, we have found that for-profit
organizations, on the other hand, seem to operate with a lower reliance on outside funding. This
is a consequence of a higher sales volume, brought about by the hubs’ generally focusing on
larger market areas. This is not to say that the majority of for-profits do not require funding
assistance; our research has shown that the majority of food hubs do; however, for-profits seem
to have a smaller dependence, and can work to pay back these debts.
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In order to use these funding assistance programs, a food hub must first locate and apply
for them. The USDA offers a comprehensive list of all their funding programs on their website.
These include State and Federal loan programs, farming grants, and other such financial aid.
One point of interest on this subject however, which Victoria Foster explained , is that the
available financial aid programs such as those listed on the USDA are becoming more and more
difficult to receive due to the increased number of organizations applying for them. Because of
this, many hubs are focusing more on private investors and companies such as Wholesome Wave
to meet their financing needs.
4.6 Infrastructure
A starting food hub needs to address the physical challenges of planning the process flow
of their hub’s infrastructure in order to operate efficiently. The workspace and process flow
must be as efficient as possible in order to maximize output and therefore profit, and to do this
they must have all the necessary equipment and infrastructure. This infrastructure includes
processing, packing, and shipping equipment, which in some cases can be leased from outside
sources.
One of the key points taken from the visit to Roger Noonan’s hub site in Manchester was
the necessity of using different processing machines for different crops. For example, the
machines used to peel and cut potatoes are different from the machines used to process squash.
Because of this, Roger explained how all of the equipment must be mobile, usually in individual
sections that link together when needed, and stored easily. He also stressed to us the importance
of Food Safety regulations in the food hub, noting that the regulations the hub must follow vary
based on state and even city. It is
imperative for a hub to know
these rules and regulations and
put them into practice in their
business.
In order for a hub to
maximize their profits, they must
maximize their output. This
means that the hub infrastructure
must be as efficient as possible;
from the point the food enters the
hub until it is delivered to the
customer. In the case of Roger
Noonan, the food entered directly
into the processing room through
Figure 14: A truck used by the Intervale food hub.
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a loading door, was processed, and then stored in a refrigerated room next door. From there it
was delivered by trucks to the buyers. This design, while limited somewhat by the facility itself,
was setup to minimize the time taken between steps to make the food travel as fast as possible.
This goal of creating an efficient workspace and process flow of the hub is one of the most
important design aspects to consider for a food hub entrepreneur.
Another key finding our group took from our research, and one stressed by Victoria
Foster of Wholesome Wave was the need for starting food hubs to utilize whatever existing
infrastructure they can. The processing, packing, and shipping equipment needed to operate the
hub can be extremely expensive, but often times it is available from some other organization or
business in the area. The advantages of leasing said equipment, or even better borrowing it from
someone willing to help, make it a feasible and smart option. For example, the New London
food hub of Connecticut utilizes the refrigerated storage of a nearby food bank, in exchange for
donation of food. This allows them to avoid the large investment cost of a refrigerated storage
room. Our team has contacted Jean McMurray, the Executive Director of the Worcester Food
Bank, who expressed a willingness to work with a food hub in Worcester in a similar
collaboration. The Food Bank is in need of fresh produce and if a hub could utilize their storage
in exchange for such produce, both parties would benefit.
One of the largest costs for a food hub, other than the facility itself, is the trucks used to
ship and deliver food. Considering the cost that these trucks pose, the advantages of leasing
generally outweigh buying. If a food hub can lease trucks for delivery, it considerably lowers
their startup cost, and also eliminates the costs they would incur for maintenance. We
recommend that any food hub, at least in the startup years, lease trucks and whatever other
infrastructure possible in order to minimize initial costs.
Another topic of consideration related to infrastructure is the possibility of using
community kitchens for value-added services. Many food hubs have kitchens of their own in
their facility, in which they make applesauce or carrot sticks or other such value added products.
However, the cost of building and maintaining such a kitchen can be high, especially for a hub
just starting up. If the hub can take advantage of a community kitchen, for example at a church
or food bank, they can benefit from offering value added products without the cost of operating
their own kitchen.
4.7 Knowing Your Territory
In order for a food hub to be successful, they must first understand their region and target
market—what we refer to as their “territory”. The hub must identify whom they mean to cater
to, what they want to sell, how they are going to sell it, and how far they are willing to travel to
do so. This target market and distribution range is not standardized for all hubs, but rather
depends on the context of each hub individually.
35
In order to understand their market, a food hub should consider what kinds of consumers
exist within it. For example, if their market is a low-income urban community, the buying power
of the population will be lower and the hub would want to cater more towards institutions.
However, if they are targeting a higher income suburban neighborhood they might be able to
offer higher priced orders to individuals and still meet the revenue they need. A number of hubs
we have researched that are located in lower income areas have begun shipping their produce to
larger cities in order to access the higher-income market that exists therein. Additionally,
approximately 64% of food hubs we have studied mainly target institutions and restaurants in
order to increase sales. Whether they started out doing this or transitioned from sales to
individuals, they have done so because the revenues are significantly higher due to the higher
buying power of the institutions versus smaller scale buyers.
This idea brings about the problem when trying to connect food hubs and food justice
programs in lower income areas, with the goal of getting fresh produce into said areas. food
hubs are a business and need adequate funds to continue operations, so without outside funding
and financial support, many hubs are unable to operate serving lower income communities. For
this reason, it is imperative that a food hub looks for investors and financial aid, and partner with
food justice initiatives, in order to help these communities.
Many hubs offer programs of their own in order to assist with this problem. One such
that could be utilized is a mobile market program—a truck or van that sells the hub’s produce
and can access the market of individuals with limited transportation opportunities. Additionally,
the Intervale food hub offers a program designed to accommodate college students’ schedules,
adapting their hours to do business when students would be available.
Once the hubs’ target market is identified, it must then determine what exactly they wish
to sell. This means determining whether they are selling organic, non-organic, or a combination
of both, as well as what specific produce they wish to carry. Many hubs offer only CSA
programs in which the customer has no input into what they receive. They simply place an order
for a basket and the hub fills it with whatever crops they have available at the time. While this
does limit the customer’s choices, it also reduces price, something to take into consideration
based on the target market.
On the other hand, many hubs operate programs similar to custom-order grocery stores;
the customer ordering specific products and the hub delivering them. This requires the hub to
have a large, reliable supply of produce, which increases costs of storage. However, the prices
for these orders compared to those of CSAs are considerably higher, meaning that the profits
may outweigh the expenses. Again, before determining what the hub will sell, it should first
conduct a thorough market analysis to determine what would be the most profitable.
Our research has shown that the feasibility of a food hub operating purely organic from
the start is not high. Many of the hubs we researched started with this goal in mind in order to
increase the supply of organic food in their communities. The problem they encountered was
that the supply of this organic produce was not large enough to meet the high demand. They
36
simply could not make the necessary revenue in order to continue operations. Out of the food
hubs we researched who fell into this category, almost all either went out of business or
converted to selling non-organic as well as organic. However, a food hub with adequate
financial support or one operating both organic and non-organic would find a huge market for
organic produce and, depending on their region, could charge a premium for said produce.
For example, Roger Noonan expressed to us a desire to operate organically, but explained
that the supply he needed to operate on the scale intended just simply did not exist in the area.
He stated the demand for organic is high, but the majority of farmers do not grow organic due to
the large risk and lower output this brings about. They can make more money growing nonorganic, and so they do so, meaning a hub can rarely find adequate supply.
Despite the added challenges of operating organically, some food hubs are able to do so
because of their market context. For example, Boston Organics is a hub operating in Boston,
Massachusetts, catering organic food CSAs to higher income customers. This higher income
customer base allows them to charge more for their products while still keeping up sales,
allowing them to operate organically. This is a further example of the importance of
understanding the target market of the food hub before determining sales strategies.
The last step in understanding a food hub’s territory is determining large it is; e.g. how
far they are willing to travel to access customers. The travel costs of distribution are one of a
food hub’s main expenses, meaning that the efficiency of that travel is extremely important to
maximizing profits. The hub must determine the maximum range they can travel while still
making adequate profits. Something to consider in this planning is the possibility of accessing
higher income markets through extended travel. For example, many food organizations in
Western Massachusetts will cater to the Boston area in order to access the higher income markets
therein, finding that the cost of travel to reach said markets is feasible given the increased
revenue.
The context of a food hub and the territory it operates in is one of, if not the most,
important aspects included in the planning of the hub. Without an adequate understanding of this
context, the hub will not be able to maximize efficiency and profits, and will most likely fail.
However, a strong understanding of the territory will help the hub to be successful and
sustainable for the future.
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5.0 Recommendations
5.1 Key Questions to Consider When Starting a Food Hub
Above all else, it was determined that establishing a food hub is a serious challenge. food
hubs are new concept, there lacks a well-established process for doing so, or even a concrete
definition of a food hub. Therefore, those starting a food hub may find themselves having to
make a lot of decisions in defining the concept for themselves and creating a process for
themselves. The business acumen needed for any business is needed here, with the additional
challenge of dealing with a supply that is dependent on nature for its quantity and quality. In
attempting to serve a food desert with a food hub, one would have even less models of existing
businesses to inform the project. In general, though, we believe it is the same key questions that
need to be addressed for these regions—since taking into account the food hub’s target market is
critical, regardless of what that market is. From our research, we have compiled this list of
questions that must be considered by those intending to start a food hub.
Business Model
• On a national scale it was found that about 32% of food hubs were non-profits and 40%
were privately owned. What kind of business model would allow your food hub to be the
most sustainable given the context? Who will be running the food hub? What skills do
they possess that will be applicable to food hub management?
• Is there a driven leader with the motivation to complete the food hub’s startup process?
• How will the organization be structured, how will staffing needs be met? How will you
identify different job descriptions?
• What is the overall mission of the food hub? How does this mission resonate within your
community?
• Is there a way to incorporate volunteering into your food hub, assisting with value-added
service or distribution?
Financing
• From our case studies 60% of the food hubs relied on some kind of government
funding. Will your food hub rely on government funding to support any of the operating
costs?
• What kind of funding could you obtain from your state or local regional government?
• What kind of partnerships with food banks, public kitchens and other organizations could
reduce your investment costs?
• Are there any private investors who would support your business model and provide
funding?
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•
•
•
Does your business plan look sustainable without external funding? How will you
generate revenue, through CSAs, Co-ops, institutional contracts, or individual sales?
From our findings, successful food hubs must operate on a large scale if they want to be
profitable; how does the business plan address expansion in the first couple of years?
Most successful food hubs have a financial supporter, like the Intervale Food Hub and the
Intervale Center. What kind of supporter would financially back your food hub?
Target Market
• What types of markets will generate the most profit for your food hub? Is there an interest
among these groups for buying local?
• In our findings New England food hubs had a higher rate of hybrid food hubs than the
national numbers; this can be most likely attributed to food hubs trying to serve dense
urban areas. What are the demographics of your potential customers? Are institutions or
individuals? In what ways would to appeal to their age, sex, race, income, location, etc?
• What food suppliers are already providing to the target market? Would your product be
competitive without any local or organic branding?
• What is the buying power of the customer market?
Marketing
• From our findings, almost half of the food hubs had distributed periodic newsletters to
those interested. How will your food hub engage current customers and prospective
customers?
• Almost all of the food hubs studied had a website that allowed individuals to contact the
food hub or place orders directly. What features should your website have to best serve
your targeted audience?
• What methods of marketing would reach your targeted audience the most effectively,
considering demographics and logistics?
Community Interest
• Many food hubs we studied had a greater presence in their communities than simply as a
business selling food. For example, conducting farming exhibitions, hosting food shows,
or distributing newsletters. Do you plan on incorporating any other such functions into
the food hub?
Distribution Methods
• There are a large number of ways food hubs can distribute food conventionally or
unconventionally. Who are the suppliers that could serve the food hub and what are their
capabilities? Likewise, who are the customers and what are their preferences?
39
•
•
•
When talking with Wholesome Wave, they found that operating to your market interest is
key to being sustainable, what kind of infrastructure can be leased or rented to scale back
on ownership until the food hub has the revenue to support the investments? How can
you effectively reach the needs of your customers without investing large amount
of capital?
CSAs are generally affordable to the customer, but don’t give the customer variety. Do
your customers prefer to have variety or affordability? This needs to be determined
before deciding on a distribution method.
What is the maximum cost effective range you are willing to travel to search for suppliers
or target market?
5.2 Areas for Further Research
Our project introduced us to several avenues of research that we, unfortunately, did not have the
opportunity to pursue. We have included them here as a recommendation for future researchers.
Develop a business plan/feasibility study for the Worcester area.
Our interview with Wholesome Wave showed us that a strong business plan is vital to a food
hub’s success. The process ended up being more involved than the scope of our project allowed.
Such an endeavor would involve extensive business research, but it’s a key aspect of food hub
development.
Determine how to best take advantage of existing food access initiatives.
In order to assist the low food-access areas, a thorough working knowledge of opportunities
available to supplement the buying power already present in these communities is needed. Our
research revealed to us a variety of different organizations with different strategies toward
improving food access. This abundance of information could actually be daunting. For instance,
in the interview with Drew Love (Appendix A.2), he listed off the following:
•
•
•
•
•
Harry Chapin Foundation
Green Mountain Coffee
Specialty Crop Block Grant
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Project Bread
These were all additional to organizations throughout the rest of our project. Developing a plan
to best utilize all of them would be useful for those interested in the food justice aspect of this
project.
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Perform a market analysis of local produce demand in Worcester.
Our research has shown that the context of a food hub’s market is critical to its decisions. From
our interview with the REC, we know that an analysis of this market would be a desired product
for a starting food hub. This market analysis would include the make-up and shopping
preferences of the target market and the demand and buying power of the community. The
analysis would be sufficient to make an educated guess at what to sell, where to sell it, and what
prices would be workable.
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6.0 Appendix
Appendix A: Interviews
A.1 Boston Organics Food Hub
Phone Interview with: Amy Moses
Conducted on: 1/22/2012
Conducted by: Brandon Okray
Can you describe for me the mission of your food hub?
Summary of Response: This food hub tries to address the food Desert problem by having an
intense operation where the food hub delivers directly to customers in the Boston Area. Boston
Organic delivers to the Boston and Greater Boston area (which has several small food Deserts).
The mission of the food hub is to support local farmers, while encouraging available, healthy and
organics food availability in the metropolitan area.
How does your food hub operate and what services do you provide to your customers?
Summary of Response: This food hub operates different than most because it brings in organic
produce from farmers, who are usually in the New England area. However, when certain fruits
aren’t in season they will continue to supply their residential customers with organic food. This
will ensure that the costumer is getting a consistent balance in the food choices and aren’t
deprived of certain foods. The food hub delivers what are called “Food Boxes”, which can vary
in size and content. This way the costumer will pick a package that fits their needs depending on
how much food they want and how much fruit vs. vegetables they want. This way the costumer
has a variety of different opportunities to find the food that fits them. This food hub not only has
produce but also other special items can be purchased for delivery in the Food Box. Some
examples of these foods are chocolates, breads, coffee and more, which all come from local
operations and are generally organic.
What are you methods of distribution and structure of your supply chain?
Summary of Response: This food hub has a distribution model that makes continuous stops all
around the city to service as many individuals as possible. The way the distribution works is
costumers can sign up for bi-weekly or weekly deliveries depending on where the costumer is
located. Customers can also choose what day of the week their “Food Box” will be delivered.
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This food hub really utilizes the technology of the 21st century, where individuals can customize
their orders and manage their delivery schedules all over the food hub’s website. The food hub
not only has an expansive distribution system for the Food Boxes, but the food hub also brings in
food from all over New England and Canada. Some of the food gets shipped from seasonal farms
in California and Florida. The coordination and supply routes mean that they have to know their
market in order to predict demand and gather produce from all over the country.
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A.2 Drew Love
Phone Interview with: Drew Love
Conducted on: 2/25/13
Conducted by: Tara Shewchuk
What strategies have you used to increase food access?
Summary of Response: All farmer’s markets can theoretically accept SNAP, since it is a legal
form of tender, but they are often unequipped to do so. He would outfit existing farmer’s markets
with terminals that allow them to accept SNAP and EBT. Additionally, he would provide an
incentive program that doubled the worth of the SNAP benefit. He found that, even well after a
farmer’s market was equipped to accept SNAP, there would still exist a belief that it did not. He
identified this as a challenge, as well as the fact that farmer’s markets tend to be located in
upper-class neighborhoods.
The CSA model was modified a little for low-income populations. They were able to pay on a
weekly basis, as opposed to up-front. The amount of food was appropriate for people with
families and others were encouraged to make “CSA buddies” if this was not the case. This
approach allowed food to be dropped off at a location in the center of the community in need, an
advantage over the farmer’s market model.
Have you ever considered a partnership with a food hub?
Summary of Response: He thinks his work is too small-scale for an effective partnership with a
food hub. His impression of food hubs are that they serve large institutions, as opposed to his
work getting food to residences. He identified the “Real Food Challenge” as an effective
collaborator for a food hub. This is a program that gets colleges/universities to commit to serving
20% local food.
What resources do you know of that could assist a food hub with a food justice mission?
Summary of Response:
Harry Chapin Foundation
Green Mountain Coffee
Specialty Crop Block Grant
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Project Bread
Any other thoughts?
44
Summary of Response: He is surprised at how many movements with this purpose never actually
interact with the community they intend to help. He suggests getting involved with a group that
can get us to actually interact with the community.
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A.3 Mason Square
Interview with: Wanda Givens, Program Director Mason Square Food Justice Initiative
Conducted on: 2/11/13
Conducted by: Tara Shewchuk
How were you founded/started?
Summary of Response: Baystate Medical Center received federal money for construction of an
addition to the hospital. They were required to give a percentage back to the community. One of
the communities chosen was the Mason Square neighborhood. The Mason Square Health Task
Force was created to use this money effectively. It is a 7-year grant; they are in the 6th year. They
are unsure how they are going to proceed when the grant is up, but are thinking of moving from
direct programming to more policy advocacy.
What resources did you use? (Financing, grants, etc.)
Summary of Response: The Food Justice Initiative was originally funded by Boston Public
Health. The task force was instructed to address a health issue in their community. They chose
food issues because so much work had already been done in this area.
Which strategies were effective for serving under-served communities/helping local food
movements? Which were not effective?
Summary of Response: Ms. Givens recommended using research that was already done (in her
case, choosing food issues to focus on because it was an already developed topic). She has found
that most of the strategies have worked and she attributes this to the group’s dependence on
community feedback. The group tries to stay as grassroots as possible –teamwork is valued and
no one assumes a leadership role. She also recommends using education and invitations to
participate to address individuals who are initially against food access strategies (in this case,
city planners, developers, etc. were against efforts to build a grocery store in the neighborhood).
The one example of a strategy that did not work was a transportation system that they got a
grocery store to set up (a bus to get people to and from the grocery store). She is not sure why
this initiative failed.
Were you imagining different outcomes than what you got?
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Summary of Response: So far, the outcomes have been as expected, although she anticipates
more difficulty when more specific decisions need to be made (if they get a grocery store, the
specifics of it).
What impact do you think you’ve had on the community?
Summary of Response: They have worked to extend farmers markets hours, finding different
coupons to provide people to access healthy food (including prescriptions from a doctor to go to
the farmer’s market), and provide education to the community in the form of workshops such as
how to read food labels and shop a grocery store for healthy items.
Any last advice to add?
Summary of Response: Ms. Givens advised potential food justice initiatives to have clear
objectives. food justice is a big issue that, when broken down, can easily provide distractions. In
her case, with the potential of a grocery store coming to the neighborhood, the group got a little
side-tracked with work-force development (the community wanted members from that
community to be hired for the grocery store). This is an issue that was not in the scope of the
initiative’s objectives.
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A.4 Monadnock Farm and Community Connection
Phone Interview with: Emerald Levick, Program Coordinator, Monadnock Farm and Community
Connection
Conducted by: William Frankian
Conducted on: 2/20/2013
How were you founded?
Summary Response: Two Antioch university interns doing a capstone project on the
local food system teamed up with Amanda Costello who now oversees the initiative.
They also sought guidance from local food conservation district advocates. They learned
of studies showing that supporting the viability of farms benefits the environment of the
county.
This group worked on getting the community involved, starting a series of forums on
different food system topics. The forums had huge community engagement, starting
working groups ‘accidentally’ who were interested in moving the project further. The
university interns became AmeriCorps Vista volunteers to run this program, while a GIS
mapping professor at Antioch did inventory work for local farms mapping the soil quality
in the region. Unless towns know the valuable soil, they cannot protect it.
The GIS project also established a list of all the farms in the county. This list was
highly detailed, including the infrastructural needs of the farmers and estimating upper
limits for food production in the region.
What financial resources do you use?
Summary Response: The MFCC is grant funded, mostly from the federal level. It
also receives support from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and a private
wealthy individual. There was also an AmeriCorps Vista program offered for two staff
members in 2007. The MFCC also takes advantage of a specialty crop block grant, and a
USDA grant through the farm bill
What programs do you offer for the less fortunate in your community?
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Summary Response: The MFCC organizes EBT and SNAP coupons for farmers
markets in the area. Originally, they used WIC coupons, and the Keene farmers market
originally used SNAP and EBT, but New Hampshire stopped providing matching funds.
MFCC Got an EBT machine and now matches purchases.
Which strategies have been effective for serving underserved communities/helping local
food movements? Has anything not been effective?
Summary Response: A successful program is their Farmer’s market incentive, which
is based on a model used all over the country. The issue addressed by it is the difficulty
farmer’s markets have in attracting new customers, who may find the market alienating
or cannot afford the prices. The MFCC offers these markets money to match up to the
first $10 of EBT purchases for every customer. They also connect the markets with
growers who offer vegetable plants for sale on the first market day. The plants can be
bought with EBT credit, and help connect more families with the source of their food.
MFCC is hoping to work with Wholesome Wave in the future to expand this program,
since as of now it can only provide about $100 in matching funds to each market. They
have also faced the challenge of finding an intern who can run EBT machines.
The MFCC’s Farm-to-Restaurant program has been less than successful. The
program originally had contracts with restaurants who pledged to buy food from local
sources. Essentially this created a food hub out of the program, with the restaurants
relying on it to supply them with food from the local farmers. They tried to work with
the Windham food and Farm Network in Vermont, which lent them a truck.
Unfortunately, they discovered that the farms in both regions did not have the soil quality
to supply this added demand. The program was then supplemented by Westminster
Organics, but that proved less than ideal due to it being not a local program anymore.
The program was a pilot project with insufficient planning. MFCC will try it again in the
spring of 2013.
Their Monadnock Matchmaker program has met with mixed success. The concept
behind this was to get as many farmers and value added producers together with
consumers from institutions and restaurants all under one roof. The original format of the
gathering was ‘speed dating’ where the conversation partners were quickly switched out.
This method quickly dissolved into chaos. The new iteration of the program has a
booklet of attendees so that everyone can make their own matches. There will also be a
49
panel of people from all sides. The program is based on the idea that building
relationship is the other half of the aggregation and distribution system.
Have you considered using a food hub as a distribution center for your efforts?
Summary Response: A food hub was not included in their original grant
applications. Though the possibility for creating a food hub in the region certainly exists,
it would require business minded individuals and a solid business plan to take off.
What impact do you think this program has had on the communities you serve?
Summary Response: The primary objective when beginning the project was to
understand whether the small communities in the region were willing to shop at
farmers markets. “Strip Mall New Hampshire” actually responded very positively
towards the concept. Analyzing the impact of the MFCC has proved difficult to
accomplish empirically, but there have been several signs that the communities have
improved. The MFCC is opening a food co-op in April 2013, which will be a
tangible location for people to see the abundance of local food. Additionally the
MFCC has seen everyday people offer to volunteer for their association, meaning that
the awareness of the movement is growing of its own volition. A Monadnock buy
local group has also sprung up. It is trying to fill the space left by the farm-torestaurant program by getting businesses to advertise that they buy local.
What other programs or businesses exist within your areas of operations?
Summary Response: There is a new for profit business in the region that is providing
value added kitchen space to farmers, called Neighbor-Made Kitchen. The MFCC has
also begun a tool-sharing program between farmers. With the support of a ‘mooseplate’
grant, they have bought high-end farm machinery to rent out to farmers. NOFA NH has
started a beginning farmer networking program to educate new farmers. Thanks to a
farmers market marketing grant, Antioch University and the conservation district are
launching a buy local campaign as well as marketing classes for local sellers.
An Agricultural Commission was also established in Monadnock County. There is a
need for these commissions because they work to give a political voice to agriculture.
The MFCC has supported seven towns in creating Ag Commissions since 2007.
50
A.5 Regional Environmental Council (REC)
Phone Interview with: Grace Duffy, Coordinator of REC’s YouthGROW
Conducted on: 2/14/13
Conducted by: Tara Shewchuk
To what extent have there been discussions in Worcester about the need or opportunities
for a food hub?
Summary of Response: YouthGROW is a ten year-old agriculture-based youth employment
program with 32 youth participants and two urban farms. Youth can progress from summer
program to year-round program to leadership positions. The program grows over 3,000 pounds
of food every summer and connects with farmer’s market. The program tried to donate food, but
they (and other farmers) found it difficult. Also, for the past two years, the youth have been
working with value-added products. They make a hot sauce that they sell at the farmer’s market.
There’s a lot of interest in the hot sauce (e.g. Cabot) and they would like to expand, but they (and
other farmers who want to do value-added products) find it difficult. Just selling produce is not
profitable for most farmers.
There’s a lot of talk of a food hub. It is part of the vision for Worcester.
What would it take for a food hub to begin operations in the Worcester area?
Summary of Response: Getting the city government on board.
What groups could be involved?
Summary of Response: Unum, Harvard Pilgrim (health insurance companies) and UMass
Memorial.
What do you see as the challenges to creating a viable food hub?
Summary of Response: Worcester gets nervous about big ideas, especially ones that wouldn’t
immediately generate tax revenue or create jobs. The food hub would have to be marketed to
them. Also, the issue of brownfields.
Are there local/regional growers who might have the resources to implement a food hub
with the help of other groups, such as the REC?
51
Summary of Response: No, they don’t have the time or resources. They would need an anchor
institution.
A.6 Regional Environmental Council (REC)
Interview Conducted With: Steven Fisher, REC Executive Director;
Casey Burns, REC Food Justice Program Director;
Brian Montverd, Clark graduate student and REC employee
Interview Conducted By: Professor Robert Hersh, Brandon Okray, and Tara Shewchuk
Date: 4/1/2013
What is your current status regarding the creation of a food hub?
Summary of Response: The REC has been considering this idea for about a year. They have an
idea of a possible location, if they get the funding. They have also talked to a handful of partners
and possible customers.
What tenuous partnerships have you set up?
Summary of Response: The REC has talked with NICHE hospitality, which has four or five
restaurants in the area. They have gotten Congressman Jim McGovern excited about the idea.
They have talked to the food procurement directors of two hospitals—St. Vincent’s (Dennis
Irish) and UMass Memorial Medical Center. Lastly, they have talked to the food procurement
director of the Worcester public school system (Donna Lombardi).
What concerns do you have regarding the food hub?
Summary of Response: The REC is concerned that the food hub won’t be able to fulfill their
food justice mission. After our discussing with them our Wholesome Wave interview, they are
concerned that they lack someone with a business background to make a business plan and
analyze the viability of the potential hub.
What questions would be useful to you for us or a group like us to answer?
Summary of Response: The REC was intrigued with the organization Wholesome Wave, which
we discussed with them. They would like to know where Wholesome Wave gets its funding, as
well as the current Wholesome Wave projects. They would like to know how all the
organizations in Worcester could work together. They would like to know what obstacles were
encountered or mistakes made by other food hubs. Lastly, they were really concerned with how
to make the economics of a food hub work.
Do you have any recommended contacts for our project?
52
Summary of Response: Throughout the REC meeting, the following organizations were
brought up:
• Winrock Foundation
• Let Us Be Local
• Acme Prepack (local distributor)
• Health Foundation of Central Mass.
• Bronx, NY food hub that serves food Justice neighborhood (name unknown)
• Processing plant in Greenfield
53
A.7 Wholesome Wave
Interview with: Victoria Foster at Wholesome Wave
Conducted by: Brandon Okray, William Frankian, Tara Shewchuk, Bob Mahoney
Conducted on: 3/25/2013
Brief overview of Wholesome Wave:
• National non-profit focusing on access and affordability for food organizations
• Established double value coupon program for consumers on food stamp programs
• Runs programs in 30 different states, hundreds of farmers markets
• Started fruit & vegetable prescription program for
• At risk children/pregnant women
• 30% BMI reduction seen in patients
• Focuses on infrastructure issues related to food hubs
• Most prevalent problem: investors interested, weren’t any investment ready businesses
• Interested in providing capital, not grants
• Team born to fill the gap between investors and entrepreneurs
• Business has to address access and affordability
• Lots of partnerships, no clear driver
How to determine if business is investor ready
• First screening
• Analyzing business plan & market opportunity
• food hubs – hard to be self-sustaining on small scale
Are there many opportunities for federal funding or is it generally private investors who
fund food hubs?
• There is federal funding, USDA, Farmers credit union, NEWMAC
• USDA resource guide for food hubs
Would you recommend non-profit or for profit business model
• Not a specific structure, important to start with objective
• Identifying how you are going to make money
• Depends on market, business owner, etc.
• USDA Funding Opportunities
What have you seen as good target markets?
54
•
Different categories
o Food hub that continues chain (cooling, packing, etc.)
o Connection to markets
o On larger scale, food hubs can target institutions, hard to do starting off
o Could have an actual market at the hub
o Understand what your customer wants
So going along with that, one of the things we’ve found is that a lot of small scale startup
food hubs have failed because they couldn’t produce enough profit, so what would you
recommend for a business model type for Worcester
• Crucial to understand how business model is financially viable and to
• Use infrastructure that exists already
• Not every hub has to build facility, own truck
• Owning generally not a good strategy
• Food banks can be used as great places to incubate growth
• Example, to serve school market, most markets can’t handle whole unprocessed food
• Want them washed, peeled, chopped, etc.
• If those facilities already existed in the area, makes sense to leverage that instead of doing
it yourself.
Can you elaborate on the food bank partnership?
• Example: Fresh new London
• Big asset can be renting out storage
• Using existing infrastructure to reduce costs
• Food processing facilities such as cutting and packing so the hub doesn’t have to do that
themselves initially
How do food hubs approach institutions?
• Based on relationship
• Much more professional focus
• Account managers to manage contacts
• Not just food, value from marketing materials, telling the story of the food
• Traceability of the farm and supplier
• Sell the product as locally grown
Do you think large schools like WPI that currently use Chartwells would ever consider
buying from a food hub?
55
•
•
There are examples of larger food hubs accommodating supply
But they need to have large enough supply to start this process, starting out it wouldn’t be
viable for the food hub to try to take on that much volume
Can you think of any successful food hubs best practices you’ve seen?
• Entrepreneur team is everything
• Relationship between farmer and customer
• Thinking like a business, not simply just to help farmers, you have to make money to stay
in business
What are some common pitfalls starting out?
• Most started because farmers needed market, didn’t consider demand or business
problems
• Hard to switch focus to customer side
• Understanding stages of growth
• Need grant funding or similar investor funding in the beginning
How long does the consulting process you go through usually take?
• 1-2 years to establish track record, varies greatly between hubs
• When do you know a food hub is ready?: pre-investment work to establish debt or equity
for investment, no set rule.
Worcester food hub:
• What point would you look for before you start investing/consulting with a food hub
in Worcester?
• Solid business model, looking for first criteria met
• “Driver” – the entrepreneur or person that’s really the driving force keeping it moving
• Initial conversation to get a sense if it’s something that makes sense from investment
side/investment need/could the enterprise support financing.
• Is it the REC that’s actually running hub, who is the entrepreneur, coordination between
people on the ground and management
Victoria asked that we send her any quotes we intend to use in our report beforehand so
she can sign off on them.
56
Appendix B: Food Hub Case Studies
B.1 Massachusetts
Food Hub Name
Berkshire Harmony
Berkshire Organics
Red Tomato
Mass Local Food Coop
State/Area
Pittsfield, MA
Dalton, MA
Canton, MA
Sterling, MA
Financing
CSA share purchases
Revenues from sales only, maybe some private
investor funding
60% from government and foundation
grants and individual donations (list of
grants on website), 30% from trade
based income, 10% from consulting
"Relies solely on volunteers,
donations, and revenue from
sales"
Distribution
Methods
CSA, farmers' market,
farm stands, emergency
food services,
wholesale, and charity
food kitchens.
Store and delivery. Customers can place orders
for either delivery or in-store pickup through
their website. Website is very easily navigated
with an impressive selection.
Direct Store Delivery or Distribution
Center type distribution, depending on
product. Shipping done by a network of
third party truckers
Online shopping cart and
delivery system, connects
consumers and producers
through online marketplace
Business Type
(profit vs. nonprofit)
Profit
Business is for-profit. They also started a nonprofit called Berkshire Organic S.E.E.D.S.
(Sustainable Education Every Day for
Students) that connects local farms to the
Dalton and Pittsfield (a food desert) School
Systems.
non-profit, coordinates marketing,
sales, and logistics for over 40 farms,
not all organic
profit, coop corporation,
online ordering, not locked
into buying like in a CSA, can
order as much each month as
you want
Target market
Individuals
Homes and businesses.
individual consumers
Individual consumers
Community
interest/links to
comm.
Collaborates with
Pittsfield Downtown, Inc.
(a non-profit)
Marketing
Maintains a blog and
Facebook page. Has a
Farmers' Market Jam
Band.
Governance
/Structure
N/A
History &
Evolution
Distributes a weekly newsletter on agricultural
and local food issues, as well as recipes. The
store sells other local products besides food, as
well.
Offers a variety of different pre-made baskets
(e.g. Berkshire Basket, Bachelor/Bachelorette
Basket, and Little Sprouts Baskets). Have
weekly specials. Year-round (not local yearround). Does "Price Checks" to ensure price is
equal or less than conventional grocery stores.
Products in over 200 stores, website,
email alias newsletters.
Family-owned business
Governance by President advised by
Board of Trustees
Began in 2007 by an individual running the
business (originally delivery only) from her
home.
Created sustainable link between
farmers and consumers to support
locally grown food. large community
use/interest
57
Governance shared by board
of directors, copy of bylaws
on website
Direct farm to consumer
model greatly impacts the
communities access to local
fresh produce
Impact on
community
Creating a "farm energy"
community (carbon
sequestration in the soil
using Biochar and
distributing electricity to
CSA members from
clean sources). Has
access to NASA Biochar
resources on website.
Work with over 50 small, local farms. In
addition to wife-husband owners, they employ 3
FT and 10 PT employees. Have over 300
weekly or bi-weekly delivery customers. Are
focused on zero waste. Donate to local food
pantries. Owner was a consultant for a woman
who started South Shore Organics, who she
now collaborates with on on-line projects.
Founded 1966 by Micael Rozyne, goal
of connecting farmers with consumers,
at first small warehouse and dist.
operation, with marketing. Ended up
closing warehouse, cancelled truck
lease, concentrated on managing
logistics of farmer network. Now
markets for 40 farmers to over 200
stores.
Started from Kelley
O'Connor's realization of
global oil crisis related to food
miles. June 2009, launched
first Distribution Day, now
over 200 members.
B.2 Vermont
Food Hub Name
State/Area
Financing
Distribution
Methods
Business Type
(profit vs. nonprofit)
Target market
Vermont,
Burlington
Calais, VT, but serves
the Boston area
St Johnsbury, VT
Newport, VT
Brattleborough, VT
Supported by CSA
share purchases
Internet-based,
sponsored by NE
Grassroots
environment fund and
the local senior center
Supported by Green
Mountain Farm-To-School,
Area Agency on Aging for
Northeastern VT, Ben and
Jerry's foundation, Vermont
Agency of Agriculture, food
and markets, VT Community
foundation, and the USDA
Rural business enterprise
grants program
Post Oil Solutions manages their
efforts
Hub-To-Consumer
CSA model
CSA model, and
'bike-truck' at-home
delivery
'internet farmer's
market' shows
locations of all the local
food in the area,
conducts transactions
between local farms
and schools
large single-batch weekly
delivery to schools, via truck
multi-farm CSA serving 35
institutions
Non-Profit
Organization
Profit
Non-profit
non-profit
Non-profit, but searching for financial
solvency
Individuals
Individuals, families
once was individuals,
now is institutions
Schools
Institutions
Strong ties to the
Burlington Area
with the Intervale
Center conducting
many farming
exhibitions
lots of connections in
the Cambridge and
Boston areas
Runs a volunteer
community farm which
grows for community
meals and provides
gardening experience
supporting local farms
Supports over 15 local farms, not
much else.
CSA share
purchases, and
backed by The
Intervale Center
58
Community
interest/links to
comm.
Online, through
word of mouth, and
print advertising
Marketing
One manager
Internet and word-ofmouth, also has a
newsletter
Contract between
farmers and the
families
Governance
/Structure
History &
Evolution
supporting many
on a locally grown
diet
Impact on
community
Vermont,
Burlington
lots of orders, many
more people with
access to diverse
food
Calais, VT, but serves
the Boston area
Internet and printed
food resource guides
distribution of weekly ordering
list, plus easy access website
internet newsletter, website, and
local print advertising
Volunteer organized
Managed by Post Oil Solutions
Began in 2009 by a
volunteer group as an
internet farmer's
market, now
coordinates sales
between farms and
schools
Began in 2009 as a pilot project by a
single farm. In 2012 WFFN began to
be managed by Post Oil Solutions, a
state-wide community organizing
initiative.
Community farm
provides agricultural
education.
Grown the local market by 400%
since its inception and by 30% in
2012 alone
St Johnsbury, VT
Newport, VT
Brattleborough, VT
B.3 Connecticut, Maine and RI
Food Hub Name
Market Mobile
Crown of Maine
Farm Fresh
Connection
LLC
CT Farm Fresh Express
The Farmer's Cow
State/Area
Pawtucket, RI
North Vassalboro,
ME
Freeport, ME
East Haddam, CT
Lebanon, CT
Financing
The food hub is a non-profit business that
brings together over 40 farmers and
producers in order to create a bigger
business for farmers. The food hub takes a
15% cut for delivery and services. In the last
4 years the food hub has started pushing out
over $1.5 million in product a year
Business
This is a small business
hybrid food hub Model that
is a privately funded
business
The food hub operates
as a partnership
between 6 farming
families that all produce
milk and milk derived
products.
Distribution Methods
The food hub will send the invoice orders to
each farm so they know what has to be
harvested. Then a delivery truck assembles
all the food in a warehouse and brings the
order together and sends them out to the
costumer
Delivery to buyers
CSA
This food hub operates in
the form of trucks that make
weekly deliveries to homes
or restaurants
The distribution method
isn't definitively known
but it can be implied
they have trucks to
transport the finish milk
cartoons and products
to grocery stores all over
Connecticut
Business Type (profit
vs. non-profit)
Non-Profit
Co-op
Profit
Profit
Profit
59
Cooperative
Target market
Individuals, restaurants and institutions the
food hub deliveries twice a week to anyone
who orders over $100 and $60 if the
costumer choices to pick up their order
Community
interest/links to
comm.
The food hub is a non-profit and brings in a
lot of volunteers to help staff the food hub
and help fill the orders.
Marketing
The market of this food hub seems like it is
through social media, and their website which
is where costumer can order there weekly
orders
Governance
/Structure
Non-Profit staffed by both salary employees
and volunteer staff
History & Evolution
The Market Mobile food hub only started 4
years ago and has rapidly growing in size
and incorporates over 40 different producers
and farmers. They started with some help
from the RI Department of Agriculture. They
started in the Providence area and have now
expanded to RI, and parts of MA and CT
Impact on community
60
Buying clubs,
restaurants, and
retailers.
Individuals,
restaurants,
retail,
institutions,
farm stands,
buying clubs,
and processing
operations.
This food hub targets
individuals and restaurants,
with being able to produce
"meals to go" to appeal to
modern day Americans on
the go
This food hub has a huge
diversity in the farms it gets
food from and even will get
food from Artisans that will
process locally grown food.
It will also service almost
anywhere in Connecticut
which is a large range and
operation
Part of the "Maine
Feeds Maine
Movement"
Maintains a blog.
Weekly
updates an
availability and
price list,
available online.
There is a newsletter that is
sent out weekly with the new
foods and what is on sale
that week. They also have
an active website where the
ordering is done.
Co-op
Business
Small apartment unit that
deals with the distribution
and trucks and drivers are
free-lanced
Began in 1995.
Began in 2001.
This was a consumer
always looking for the
freshest products and joined
a CSA but couldn't maintain
the strict structure they had
so decided to develop this
distribution business to
deliver fresh food to
people's doorstep
Deliver regularly
to 55 buying
clubs.
Serves over
150
establishments.
Large impact on the general
Connecticut community
because of the vast network
of costumer and suppliers
Grocery Stores and
Large Restaurants and
Institutions
This milk food hub has a
very large impact on the
community and has
served as an inspiration
to show that even local
farmers can make it on
the shelves in grocery
stores. The food hub
has gained so much
interest that they started
a local cafe, hallmarking
their products
This milk food hub is
able to market itself
through its website, local
events and tours, local
news articles, on the
milk cartoon itself.
The farm is a
partnership with 6 other
farmer families and has
been this way since its
start
Began 8 years ago and
had 6 farmer families
join the food hub and
since then has become
a huge success in just a
very years and sells to
over 100 locations that
include a large number
of large grocery stores
include two in my small
hometown
Appendix C: Food Justice Case Studies
C.1 Massachusetts
Movement name
State
Year Founded
Serving Strategy (what they
do with the food once they
get it)
Regional Environmental Council
(REC) Food Justice Program
Massachusetts
1998
The REC offers a wide variety of
different serving methods
including a mobile farmers
market that unloads a small
farmer’s stand on various street
corners. Additionally, they
operate a small community
garden and local farmers market
in order to promote locally grown
food
Supporters (grants, federal
programs, etc.)
REC membership donations,
volunteers, and a lot of
organizations, including: City of
Worcester, Fallon Community
Health Plan, Greater Worcester
Community Foundation,
Massachusetts Department of
Agricultural Resources, Price
Chopper's Golub Foundation,
United Way of Central
Massachusetts
Community served
Worcester
61
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
Lowell, MA
1998
Has provided access to information, resources,
training, and technical assistance to would-be
farmers. Then newly trained farmers have
access to CSAs and a farmers' market
Co-op with the goal of assisting people with
limited resources (e.g. Beginning farmers,
immigrants, and refugees) begin small-scale
farming. food access in underserved areas is
also a goal. The project is sponsored by the
Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of
Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University
and by Community Teamwork, Inc. The project
also has several funders and partners. It is part
of the National Immigrant Farming Initiative
(NIFI) and Northeast Network of Immigrant
Farming Projects (NNIFP
Individuals, institutional food
services/restaurants
Mason Square Food Justice Initiative
Massachusetts
2009
Partners with the Pioneer Valley NE
Growers Co-op to help lead farmers
markets around the community and
runs a mobile farmers market to help
distribute food. Also partners with
Wholesome to get double SNAP
points
Partners for a Healthier Community,
Gardening the Community, the State
Street Corridor Alliance, Rebuild
Springfield, MassMutual, Baystate
Health
Springfield
Other Programs/Services
They Provide (That may not
involve food distribution)
Website
a community gardens network
(UGROW), youth development
through urban agriculture
(YouthGROW), healthy cooking
education project (Share our
Strength's Cooking Matters),
events such as a Slow food Gala
and Spring Garden Festival
Students at Tufts are very involved with the
project through their coursework.
Provides culturally-appropriate produce such as
Southeast Asian vegetables.
www.recworcester.org
Runs a ʺJust Foodʺ campaign to get a
grocery store in Mason Square Food
Desert, which collects data from the
community to so the need and buying
power of the residents. Helps run
community gardens in vacant and
abandoned lots.
www.masonsquarehealthtaskforce.org
C.2 New Hampshire and Maine
Movement name
State
Year Founded
Serving Strategy
(what they do with
the food once they
get it)
Supporters
(grants, federal
programs, etc.)
Monadnock Farm and Community
Connection
New Hampshire Healthy Corner
Stores
Cultivating Community
New Hampshire
2006
As part of the Cheshire county
Conservation district, it is a series
of programs focused on
strengthening the connection
between the public and the
agricultural community. They
recently orchestrated the creation
of a food co-op in Monadnock
county, as well as a local food-torestaurant menu program called
Monadnock Menus.
NH
2012
ME
2010
Sells healthy food from corner stores
and Bodegas to encourage better
eating habits among underprivileged
people
Farms stands that accept SNAP and WIC;
vegetable incentives for SNAP and WIC
customers to double the value of their benefits;
develop systems for low-income customers to
commit to a CSA share; assist refugee farmers in
enrolling as SNAP, WIC, and Senior Farm Share
vendors and connect them with benefits
recipients; facilitate deliveries to emergency food
system; assist farmers markets interested in
serving low-income customers
Non-profit, an offshoot of the
nationwide Healthy Corner Stores
Network. The local movement was an
initiative of the Manchester Health
Department.
Business sponsors (mostly local), including a law
practice, financial advisers, a radio station, and
Whole Foods Market
Non-profit, sponsored by USDA
Farm Service Agency, Monadnock
Economic Development
Corporation, Monadnock Localvore
Project, and the Monadnock
Sustainability Network.
62
Community served
Monadnock County
Manchester
Greater Portland and Greater Lewiston.
Other
Programs/Services
They Provide (That
may not involve
food distribution)
Building a food co-op, farm-to-local
restaurant program, they are also
apparently something like an
action committee for local food in
the area; they have a long list of
goals for improving the food
system of Monadnock county on
their website.
The program provides a trained
supermarket sales consultant to the
participating corner store to show
where to place the healthy food, as
well as provide some training in how to
maintain the supply.
Youth programs, partnerships with schools, farmer
training project (primarily immigrants).
Additionally: Plans for the upcoming year:
Produce Prescription Program, mobile farm stand,
cookbook/storybook
Website
http://www.cheshireconservation.or
g/MFCC
http://www.healthycornerstores.org/?s
=manchester&cat=0
www.cultivatingcommunity.org
Movement name
Central Vermont Food Systems
Council
Vermont Feed
NOFA - Vermont
State
Year Founded
VT
N/A
VT
2000
VT
1971
Serving Strategy
(what they do with
the food once they
get it)
Runs farmers markets, potluck
lunches, seed swaps, and
supports local farmers in an
attempt to "ensure that all our
community has access to
affordable quality food"
Works with schools and
communities to raise awareness
about healthy food, the role of
Vermont farms, and good nutrition.
Tries to establish possible links
between local farms and school
institutions
The goal of this food justice organization is to
create programs supporting local organic
food and to increase the acreage of certified
organic land in Vermont while also increasing
the access of local organic food to all
Vermont
Supporters
(grants, federal
programs, etc.)
Funded by Americrops Vista (a
non-profit government
organization run by volunteers)
Non-profit collaboration of Food
Works, NOFA VT, and Shelbourne
Farms
Over ten program grants listen on 2011
Annual Report (on website)
C.3 Vermont
63
Community served
Serves the Montpelier, VT area
One third of schools in Vermont,
works with F.A.R.M.S in Maine
cosponsoring National Farm to
School Network"
Other
Programs/Services
They Provide (That
may not involve
food distribution)
"Growing Local Fest":
community event supporting
their "localvore" movement, last
year raised $5000 for gardens
in local schools
They will offer courses, consults
and college student to come to
work with a school system on how
to establish connections with local
food outlets and farmers
Educational programs, Community/consumer
local food access programs
http://cvfsc.wordpress.com/
http://www.vtfeed.org/
http://nofavt.org/
Website
All of Vermont (see above)
C.4 Connecticut
Movement name
State
Year Founded
CT Food Bank
Connecticut
1981
Wholesome Wave
Connecticut (Headquarters)
2007
The Connecticut Food Bank has provides food for
families that have trouble affording food and are
generally located in low-income communities. One of
the programs they started is call the Mobile Food
Pantry, which will deliver food to low-income
neighborhoods
They have several major programs
that help small and mid-scale farmers
while trying to help some of the
serious food Justice issues.
Supporters (grants,
federal programs, etc.)
Receives sponsorship and
funding from several important
CT Agricultural players, such
as UConn, CT Department of
Agriculture, City Seed and
American Farmland Trust
The Connecticut Food Bank receives most of its
support from Food Donations, but other important
factors for their funding include fundraising (16%),
government grants (3%) and program revenue (5%).
One interesting thing is that 93% of their expenses
consists of just distributing the food, which means
there is a lot of room for important and maybe in the
form of partnering up with a food hub
Wholesome Wave is a non-profit
business that receives donations from
business and several other
nonprofits. Some of the companies
that support are Kashi, Organic
Valley, Stonyfield and Whole Foods
Community served
Anywhere in CT
In the New Haven Area mostly
28 States, 300 Farm to Retail Venues
and 2,500 Farmers
Serving Strategy (what
they do with the food
once they get it)
Buy CT Grown
Connecticut
N/A
Informational Services: to
provide information on
marketing, funding and best
practices for running farmer's
markets or CSAs Financial
Services: They also cosponsors several Farmer's
Markets
64
Other
Programs/Services
They Provide (That
may not involve food
distribution)
Website
They provide information and
paid staff to help run your
farmer's market or help start a
farmer's market
They also have a program that's called Kids
BackPack which is a program where teachers help
distribute food to low-income students so they have
healthy food over the weekend
http://buyctgrown.com/
http://www.ctfoodbank.org/
65
Healthy Food Commerce Investments
helps companies respond to
increased demand for local and
healthy food by matching them with
farmers in their area. Double Value
Coupon Program partners 300 farmto-retail venues that help low-income
individuals receive twice for their
coupons. Fruit and Vegetable
Prescription Program that consists of
healthcare companies working with
overweight, obesity or pregnant
women to make sure they have fresh
produce
http://wholesomewave.org
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